The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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Appendix C
APPENDIX C
Electronic Devices Carried by the U-2
From the beginning the U-2 was envisioned as more than a camera
platform. In fact, the U-2 would ultimately carry only five types of
photographic equipment but more than 20 different types of electronic
devices, some for collecting electronic intelligence (ELINT), others
("ferret" equipment) for gathering intelligence on foreign radars, and
a few for self-protection--electronic countermeasures to defeat en­
emy missile-control radars.
The various electronic, countermeasures and intelligence-gather­
ing systems designed for the U-2 received designations using Roman
numerals-Systems I through XXII. The first seven devices were
built by the Ramo-Wooldridge firm, now part of the TRW
Corporation. System-I used S- and X-band ELINT receivers to collect
ground-controlled intercept and air defense signals. Weighing only
7. 7 kilograms, this system was aboard all U-2s from I 955 through
1959. System-IL a communications and navigation system. never
worked properly and was canceled. System-III. a 16-kilogram VHF
recorder for communications intelligence (COMINT), was never used
and was transferred to the Navy in 1958. System-IV, a ferret device
that recorded electromagnetic energy in the 150- to 4,000-MHz range
was used on 16 missions between 1957 and 1959, when it was given
to the Air Force. System-V was similar to System-I but covered nine
wave bands. The device was so heav·y that U-2s using it could not
carry a camera system. System-V was used on only three missions
and was replaced by the lighter weight System-VI that covered the P-,
L-, S-, and X-band frequencies and could be used with either the A or
B camera. System-VI was used from 1959 through 1966.
The growing need for data on Soviet missile development led to
a contract with the firm of Haller-Raymond-Brown (HRB) to build a
missile-telemetry intercept system as quickly as possible. The result­
ing device (System-VII) could record up to 12 minutes of data from
six simultaneous frequencies. This unit first saw service on 9 June
1959 and was used on another 22 missions during the next year.
Following modifications to make System-VII suitable for use by the
Navy, the designation was changed to System-VIII.
System-IX was an electronic-countermeasures (ECM) device for
generating false-angle information in response to X-band radar pulses
from surface-to-air missile radars. Also known as the Mark-30. the
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