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

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49
Sec. et NOFOAN
Chapter 2
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engine, but no firm plans existed for the all-important cameras.
Existing cameras were too bulky and lacked sufficient resolution to
be used in high-altitude reconnaissance.
The workhorses of World W'ilf II aerial photography had been the
Fairchild K-19 and K-21 framing cameras with lenses of varying focal
lengths from 24 to 40 inches. Late in the war, the trimetrogon K-17
.mapping-camera system came into use. This system consis~ed of lhree
separate cameras which made three photographs simultaneously: a
vertical, an oblique to the left, and an oblique to the right The major
shortcomings of the trimetrogon system were the large amount of film
required and the system's lack of sharp definition on the obliques.
The standard aerial cameras available in the e'ilfly 1950s c:ould
achieve resolutions of about 20 to 25 feet (7 to 8 meters) on a side
when used at an altitude of 33,000 feet (10,000 meters), or about 25
lines per millimeter in current tenns of reference. Such resolution was
considered adequate because aerial photography was then used pri­
marily to choose targets for strategic bombing, to assess bomb dam­
age after air raids, and to make maps and charts. Unfortunately, a
camera with a resolution of only 20 to 25 feet at a height of 33,000
feet was too crude to be used at twice that altitude. lndeed, for intelli­
gence purposes a resolution of less than 10 feet was necessary to dis­
cern smaller targets in greater detail. This meant that any camera
carried to altitudes above 68, 000 feet had to be almost four times as
good as existing aerial cameras in order to achieve a resolution of less
than 10 feet As a result, some scientists doubted that useful photogra­
phy could be obtained from altitudes higher than 40,000 feet.'"
" Baker imervil!w (S).
U-2 landing gear and pogos
.Sea,et­