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An Intelligence Success Story The U-2 Program: The DCI(cid:146)s Perspective George J. Tenet Editor(cid:146)s Note: On 17September 1998, CIA~c Centerfor the Study of Intelligence (CSI) held public a sym posium at theNationalDefense University, FortMcNair, Washing ton, DC Amongthe otherco sponsors ofthis event(cid:151)entitled (cid:147)The U-2:A Revolution in Intelligence(cid:145)~(cid:151) theDepartmentofDefense, the were NationalReconnaissance Office, and several UScorporations thathave The U-2. may be one of been involvedin the U-2program(cid:151) . . LockheedMartin, Eastman Kodak, the achievements greatest andRaytheon. Thesymposium, of intelligence service attendedby hundreds ofpeople, had any of nation. twopurposes: (1) to examine the any development, operations, andpolicy DCI GeorgeJ. Tenet (cid:145)9 impactofthe legendary U-2 (Utility 2) reconnaissanceaircraft, one of America~c most remarkable intelli genceachievements, and (2) to honor Russianpanelist, retired Colonel andcommemorate the men and Alexander Orlov, who was a senior women whoparticipatedin thispio particzpanfin theformer USSR(cid:146)S neeringprogram_often atgreat efforts to counter thisformidable personalrisk(cid:151)either in its early intelligenc~(cid:146) collectionprogram. (the 1950s) recently. years ormore Participants in thepaneldiscussions * * * at thesymposium includedpilotsand engineers who tookpartin the U-2 Good morning, ladies and gentle program at its inception, as wellas men. First~ I want to thank the CIA(cid:146)s historians, corporation leaders, gov Center for~the Study ofIntelligence ernmentpolicymakers, andauthors. and all the~other sponsors ofthis con ference fo~ giving me an opportunity that Direc~ors ofCentral Intelligence In thefirsttwo articles ofthis edition seldom ge~(cid:151)the chance to boast ofStudies in Intelligence, we about a m~jor intelligence success. presentAmerican andSoviet/Russian persjØctives on the U-2program The U-2 v~as, indeed, one ofthe from twoparticipants in thesympo CIA(cid:146)s greatest intelligence achieve sium. Thefirstarticle consists of ments. In fact, it may be one ofthe introductory remarks made by the greatest achievements ofany intelli DirectorofCentralIntelligence, gence service ofany nation. It was a (cid:151) Georgef Tenet, at thegathering. triumph o~government, great indus George Tenet is the Director of Thesecondarticle discusses the U-2 trial partn(cid:231)rs, and courageous Central Intelligence. asseen through the eyes ofthesole people(cid:151)a~ triumphwhich must be 1 Report Documentation Page Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. 1. REPORT DATE 3. DATES COVERED 1999 2. REPORT TYPE 00-00-1998 to 00-00-1999 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER The U-2 Program: The DCI’s Perspective 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION Central Intelligence Agency,Center for the Study of REPORT NUMBER Intelligence,Washington,DC,20505 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Studies in Intelligence. Volume 42, No. 5, Winter 1998-1999 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 4 unclassified unclassified unclassified Report (SAR) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 DCI/U-2 (cid:147) Until the U-2 in was operation, US intelligence did have effective not an replicated again and again ifwe are to perform vital cult national security decisions. in means to two protect our country. We are fortunate short, we were blind. to have this great legacy to build on. functions: to warn the President against surprise It was in this grim context that Presi Iankdnoexwtetnhsaitveyopurohgarvaemanahienatderoefstyionug. attack from the Soviet dInetnetllEiigseencnehoAwgeerncayskteodptuhlelCteongtertahler I don(cid:146)t want to steal the thunder of Union and to provide him and direct the U-2 program. Then- the other speakers. I also understand DCI Allen Dulles put his special with the intelligence he that there will be three panels: assistant, Richard Bissell, in charge. one giving the engineers(cid:146) perspective, needed to make difficult Bissell pulled together brilliant talent another the pilots(cid:146) view, and a third national security decisions. from academia, from industry, and one that will examine the U-2(cid:146)s from the military(cid:151)inspired talent impact on policy. You will even have 9, such as MIT(cid:146)s James Killian and Har the privilege ofhearing from one of vard(cid:146)s James Baker, who is with us our former opponents(cid:151)and awor this morning; Polaroid(cid:146)s Edwin thyopponent indeed(cid:151)Colonel Land; Lockheed(cid:146)s KellyJohnson, Orlov. America(cid:146)s foremost aeronautical engi (cid:147)like two heavily armed men feeling neer; and Trevor Gardner, another IDiarmectnoortsaonfeCnegnitnreaelrIonrteallpiigloetn.ceAanrde tihnegirhiwmasyelafrionumnodratarloopemr,ilefarchombetlhieev gtiorftwedhoenghiandeecromfreoimnttohegoprvievrantemesnetc supposed to steer clear ofpolicy. But other, whom he assumes to have per asAssistant to the Secretary ofthe I will bringyou the perspective ofa fectvision. Each tends to ascribe to Air Force for R&D. DCI in the post-ColdWar period(cid:151) the other a consistency, foresight, onewho is enormously proud ofthe and coherence that his own experi The missionwas daunting: to design, build, and fly photographic CIA(cid:146)s instrumental role in pioneer ence belies.(cid:148) a recon ing the U-2 program. naissance plane that could fly over the Soviet Union at a higher altitude Both Eisenhower and Khrushchev than plane had flown before. any I know that I(cid:151)and I suspect that were feeling theirway toward a relax They also would have to develop ofyou(cid:151)have compared some our ation oftensions, but each lacked the high-acuity cameras to peer deep age and the ColdWai era and, with ability to understand(cid:151)let alone into the Soviet Union and establish a 20-20 hindsight, have been tempted trust(cid:151)the motives and behavior of photointerpretation center to analyze to declare the Cold War era a sim the other. For his part, Eisenhower the imagery thatwas acquired. A pler time. I am not so sure. feared a surprise attack andwar by worldwide covert operation would miscalculation. We desperately have to be orchestrated to support When you read Dwight Eisen needed to be able to penetrate the the overflights. And, last but not hower(cid:146)s and Nikita Khrushchev(cid:146)s Iron Curtain(cid:151)actually more like an least, theywould have to hire and memoirs, and histories ofthat time(cid:151) Iron Box, since it was closed to us on train pilots to fly these totally new whether you read the unclassified, all sides. We desperately needed to planes through hostile airspace. the classified, the declassified or ver knowwhat the Soviets(cid:146) capabilities wsieoanlsth(aonfdUI-h2ompaeteyroiualhathvaetnwoetehdavtehe and intentions were. BainsdselhlisotnceeamrewemraerkgeidvetnhatthewhUe-n2he declassified)(cid:151)it is clear that a great assignment, (cid:147)nobody had really dealwas at stake. The future ofthe Until the U-2 was in operation, US worked out how anythingwas to be world hung in the balance(cid:151)and intelligence did not have an effective done; nobody knewwhere it would everyonewas operating in the dark. means to perform two vital func be developed, where flight-testing tions: to warn the President against could be done, where people could Henry Kissinger once described the surprise attack from the Soviet be trained or bywhom, who could Cold War behavior ofthe United Union and to provide him with the fly it or anything.(cid:148) In otherwords, States and the Soviet Union as being intelligence he needed to make diffi theyknew a lot more than most of 2 DCI/U-2 Forty-five pilots and support person nel lost their lives during the first 20 ofth~ Today years program. we honor theii~ memory, their courage, and their dFvotion to country. I am pleased thatso manyfamilymem bers could attend this conference. war~t We all you to know how grate ful our nation is to the fathers and sons whom you lost. We hope that de~rive will small comfort you some from knowing that their workwas invaluable, and from knowing that theyhave l~equeathed a precious leg U-2 prototype acy to our country. us do in Washington when we start ing ofFrancis Gary Powers(cid:146) plane, an important project!(cid:148) and the consequences that flowed The U-2 program went on to make a from their handling ofit. critical difl~erence during the Cuban KellyJohnson and his Skunkworks missile crisis, and it helped save the charnegwabreagtanLobcykhceleeda.niEniggohutty-aenigohltd But I can and will say this: From the lIinvdeoscohfinoauJr foSricnecsed1u9r7i4n,gtthheepwarroin days later, they had aprototype. The U-2 data captured by our over gram has I~een under the aegis ofthe flights(cid:151)data corroborated by other U-2 project came in on time and Air Force, ~vhose private-industry means(cid:151)President Eisenhower could under budget(cid:151)a rarity here in mission partners include Lockheed Washington! confidently resist the fierce domestic Martin, R~ytheon Systems, and East pressure to engage in a massive arms man Koda~c(cid:151)the gracious co The U-2 gave us eyes to see inside buildup. He knew for certain(cid:151)for sponsors ofthis conference. the Iron Box. It instantly became a certain(cid:151)that we had no bomber mabaojuotr sthoeurScoevioeftoUunriionnt.elIltigceonncseti gSoavpieatndUnnioonm,issdielsepigtaepalwliStohvitehte Today, new generations ofU-2s per form high~altitude weather research, tinutiendtenlolitgheinncge.less than a revolution bstuorraiesu,tmitpnhhga.ttwoatsheancoinnttrealrlyi.geBnyceany mea etaiorntshsraetseolt~kirtceesansduraveeryisa,lcmaopmpmiunngi,caas well as str~tegic reconnaissance. But Like other revolutions, even success the living iegacy ofour U-2 pioneers whfeiuxillpglehorcntroesisns,vka,tetnahtiheneidsnUt-iclto2ynbfprleeorarkoveegenrsciateommttoeoentdethegaegbisla.etdeI Tlroihnsegksma(cid:151)fenodnrhatanhrdedwU(cid:151)a-on2md(cid:146)seneoafwrtlheyonstuwcoocoreksksegerdseat degxorpeaeswriibneegnycoi~il.~1dlLpetothrattma.netTeloxepstlshaoiinsns.dfayr,omwethaerier the costs and benefits ofsending U-2 can be forever proud ofthat. I know missions over an increasingly that many ofyou are here this morn Just as it ~yas during the early days of incensed Soviet Union in the run-up ing. You, who livedwith the project the ColdWar, the vital mission of to the Four-Power Paris Summit of for months and even years, can attest the Centr~.l IntelligenceAgency and 1960. Eisenhower certainly agonized better than I to the challenges and US intelligence as a whole is to give over his decision to go forward with frustrations you faced and overcame. strategic ~arning and to provide the the missions. And youwho saw colleagues and President ~,vith the information and loved ones die in the line ofduty analysis h~ cannot get from any And I leave it to the historians to cri know far better than I the human where else~(cid:151)information and analysis tique how both Eisenhower and cost ofthose risky test-flights and which give our country unparalleled Khrushchev responded to the down- reconnaissance missions. unilateral (cid:145)advantage. 3 DC!/U-2 Our U-2 revolutionaries got it right. They were brilliant. They willing were think big and think to The post-Cold War threat environ Their legacy is in action today. We ment presents an array ofdaunting different and take risks. have only to look at the CIA(cid:146)s challenges. We no longer confront a ~9 dynamic relationships with all the single, massive, global threat from a sponsors ofthis U-2 Conference: rival superpower. But we must deal the US Air Force, the Department of with a host ofother threats which Defense, the National Reconnais can be extremelylethal and destabiliz sance Office, Lockheed Martin, ing, andwhich are linked in (cid:149) And mustmaintain our tightpartner Eastman Kodak, and Raytheon! unprecedented ways(cid:151)proliferation, shipswith industry to leverage terrorism, regional crises, the fallout capabilities from the privatesector to The dedicated and of men women ofhumanitarian disasters. support ourfundamental collection the Central IntelligenceAgency are and intelligencework. For ifwedo proud ofthe vital role ourAgency Nowwe must worry as much about not, in this eraofexplosive techno played in the pioneering U-2 pro hard-to-detect small-scale biological logical growth, wewill not be able to gram. We applaud the lasting weapons producers as we do about maintain ourstrategicedge. contributions ofour U-2 collabora the large-scale nuclearweapons pro tors. Andwe remain committed to a grams. And we must help our In short, we must follow the lead of dynamic and productive partnership military achieve dominance in situa those who came before us(cid:151)the leg with them in the challenging decades tions ranging from peacekeeping to acy ofingenuity and patriotism that to come. sustained combat. marked the development ofthe U-2. Before closing, I want to say a special To be effective, we must also be fast, In fact, today(cid:146)s tests ofsuccess in this thanks to the pilots, from Carmine because everything is happening post-ColdWar erawould come as no Vito to the U-2 pilots oftoday. The faster(cid:151)whether it is the financial surprise to KellyJohnson, and to our courage that Carmine and his col dealings of cyber-banking other U-2 visionaries from inside leagues showed made an enormous a trafficker, the communication of and outside the Intelligence Commu difference to the security ofour coun sophisticated military technologyvia nity. Indeed, that is precisely how try. These men allowed generations the Internet, or the spread ofthe theyworked, and why they ofAmericans to live in peace and Asian financial crisis in our global triumphed. prosperity. On behalfofall Ameri ized world. cans, I want to thank you, Carmine, Roman Rudenko, the Soviets(cid:146) chief and all your co-pilots and colleagues, prosecutor in the Francis Gary Pow for your great and selfless heroism. In such an age ofrapid geopolitical ers trial, called our U-2 program (cid:147)a And to General Chuck Simpson and and technological transformation graphic example ofcriminal collu all the great pilots under his com and growing transnational threats, sion between a bigAmerican mand today, thankyou for carrying the CIA and our entire Intelligence capitalist company, an espionage cen on the legacy ofgreatness that has Community: ter, and the US military.(cid:148) Pretty been passed down to you, for the pas close. sion you have for the U-2 mission, (cid:149) Must be smart, bold, and agile. and for the leadership you show to In all seriousness, our U-2 revolution young pilots who are making their history. (cid:149) Mpluisntesw(cid:151)loarskhisnmgooctohlllyecatciroonsstodisci Tarhieesygwoetriet wriiglhlti.ngThtoeythwienrkebbirgilalniadnt. own think different and take risks. They The revolution in intelligence that analysis(cid:151)and intelligence agencies. across drew ideas, information, and our U-2 program launched continues strength from a variety ofdisciplines to this day, and I am confident that and from each other. And they it will continue to serve our nation(cid:146)s (cid:149) Must coordinate morecloselythan formed public-private partnerships security and world peace well into everwith ourmilitary. thatwould last. the 21st century. Thankyou. 4