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

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Baker's new lenses were used in a camera system known as the
A-2, which returned to a trimetrogon arrangement because of prob­
lems with the A-1 system's rocking mount. The A-2 consisted of
three separate K-38 framing cameras and 9.5-inch film magazines.
One K-38 filmed the right oblique, another the vertical, and a third
the left oblique. The A-2 system also included a 3-inch tracking
camera. All A-2 cameras were equipped with the new 24-inch f/8.0
Baker-designed lenses. These were the first relatively large photo­
graphic objective lenses to employ several aspheric surfaces. James
Baker personally ground these surfaces and made the final bench tests
on each lens before releasing it to the Agency. These lenses were able
to resolve 60 lines per millimeter, a 240-percent improvement over
existing lenses. 18
Once Baker and Scott had redesigned the 24-inch lens for the
K-38 devices, they turned their attention to Baker's new camera de­
sign, known as the B model. It was a totally new concept, a high-reso­
lution panoramic-type framing camera with a much longer 36-inch
f/10.0 aspheric lens. The B camera was a very complex device that
- used a single lens to obtain photography from one horizon to the
other, thereby reducing weight by having two fewer lenses and shutter
assemblies than the standard trimetrogon configuration. Because its
lens was longer than those used in the A cameras. the B camera
achieved even higher resolution-100 lines per millimeter.
The B camera used an 18- by 18-inch format, which was
achieved by focusing the image onto two counterrotating but overlap­
ping 9. 5-inch wide strips of film. Baker designed this camera so that
one film supply was located forward, the other aft. Thus, as the film
supplies unwound, they counterbalanced each other and did not dis­
turb the aircraft's center of gravity.
The B camera had two modes of operation. In mode I, the
camera used a single lens to make seven unique exposures from 73.5°
on the far right and far left obliques to vertical photos beneath the air­
craft, effectively covering from horizon to horizon. Mode II narrowed
the lateral coverage to 21 S on either side of vertical. This increased
the available number of exposures and almost doubled the camera's
" "Basic Configuration and Camera Data:· 24 January 1956. OSA Records (TS
Codeword); OSA History, chap. 5. annex 44 (TS Codeword).
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Chapter 2
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