DTIC ADA615679: The Lens of Power: Aerial Reconnaissance and Diplomacy in the Airpower Century

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The Lens of Power: Aerial Reconnaissance and Diplomacy in the Airpower Century
by
Joe Santucci
A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of Air University in partial fulfillment of the
requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
2013
Dr. Melvin Deaile
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School of Advanced Air and Space Studies
ii
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The Lens of Power: Aerial Reconnaissance and Diplomacy in the
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Airpower Century
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14. ABSTRACT
The United States and other nations pursue aerial reconnaissance daily. Thousands of sorties can be
airborne simultaneously around the globe, all collecting vital information and providing different effects
for authorities. Although the ability of aerial reconnaissance to find and fix targets and provide battle
damage assessment in combat is well understood, its peacetime diplomatic impact is not. Absent an
ongoing, large conflict to focus the reconnaissance enterprise, the goals of peacetime aerial reconnaissance,
including collection and analyses become more complex and serve purposes beyond its ability to locate and
analyze kinetic targets or military postures for combat. Historically, aerial reconnaissance in peacetime has
proven politically useful and diplomatically versatile when employed independently of broader military
operations.
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a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE Same as 487
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Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author. They do not
reflect the official position of the US Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air
Force of Air University.
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About the Author
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Santucci is an Air Force officer currently assigned to Air University as a
Lorenz Research Fellow. He has flown reconnaissance missions around the world in the RC-135
and U-2 and commanded a U-2 operational squadron at Beale Air Force Base, California from
2009 to 2011. He has served on Air Combat Command’s Headquarters Staff in Hampton,
Virginia, and on the Air Staff at the Pentagon. Colonel Santucci holds a 1994 Bachelors of
Science from the United States Air Force Academy, a 1999 Master of Arts from the University of
Oklahoma, a 2007 Master of Operational Air and Space Power from Air University, and is a
2008 graduate of the Air Force’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.
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Acknowledgements
My gracious thanks to the following people and organizations who supported the research and
writing of this study.
My wife, who spent many hours helping me think through this study and then reading its many
drafts, deserves first thanks. My amazing son also deservers my gratitude for his patience while
daddy was “reading so much.”

Dr. Jim Tucci has been a gracious and supportive dissertation chair. He was helpful and honest
in his criticisms while being endlessly supportive. He and the SAASS faculty have a way of
supporting standards while simultaneously imparting enthusiasm.
Mr. Dino Brugioni invited me to his home, provided me with access to his collections at the
National Air and Space Museum, and connected me with others. His life, work in the CIA, and
prolific writings, show him to be both a participant in and a contributor to the American dream.
Mr. Chris Pocock met with me multiple times to help me formulate early ideas for this study and
also provided much of its literary background in his excellent research.
Dr. Stephen Randolph, Historian at the Department of State, sponsored my access to the Bunche
Library and assisted me in finding key volumes of the Foreign Relations of the United States.
The Library of Congress animates a prized freedom for any person, which is free access to
information. This study could not have been completed without the Library’s culture of
stewardship and motivated staff, including Mr. Darren Jones, who assisted me constantly, Ms.
Betty Culpepper, who took me on as a key researcher and provided me with study space, and Dr.
Will Elsbury, the Library’s military specialist.
Doctors Jeffrey Richelson and Mary Curry, both of The George Washington University’s
National Security Archive, sponsored my access to the Archive, Dr. Richelson’s personal
collections, and the resources of the Gelman Library.
Dr. Jerry Martin, Command Historian for US Strategic Command, contributed documents and
maps from SAC archives at Offutt AFB. I am grateful for his enthusiastic assistance.
Dr. Deborah Kidwell, an Air Force Historian, spent her time with me in the early stages of
writing the prospectus and refining the research questions.
Finally, the National Archives and Record Administration’s aerial specialist, Mr. Jerry
Luchansky, assisted me with reviewing many rolls of film and special collections folders.
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Abstract
The United States and other nations pursue aerial reconnaissance daily. Thousands of sorties can
be airborne simultaneously around the globe, all collecting vital information and providing
different effects for authorities. Although the ability of aerial reconnaissance to find and fix
targets and provide battle damage assessment in combat is well understood, its peacetime
diplomatic impact is not. Absent an ongoing, large conflict to focus the reconnaissance
enterprise, the goals of peacetime aerial reconnaissance, including collection and analyses,
become more complex and serve purposes beyond its ability to locate and analyze kinetic targets
or military postures for combat. Historically, aerial reconnaissance in peacetime has proven
politically useful and diplomatically versatile when employed independently of broader military
operations.
This study investigates how America’s aerial reconnaissance has supported diplomacy in
peacetime. It hypothesizes that aerial reconnaissance operations have valuable and strategic
diplomatic effect beyond simply contributing to a systematic intelligence-gathering process, and
independent of its part in targeting and post-attack assessment in violent conflict. The study
begins with a brief historical survey of peacetime aerial reconnaissance operations and explains
how high-level political control over reconnaissance, established after World War II, enabled its
strategic diplomatic impact. The study then examines diplomacy and aerial reconnaissance in
three peacetime categories between 1956 and 2001: in evolving crises, in air monitoring, and in
daily sensitive reconnaissance operations. Each category examines two historical case studies in
an attempt to understand the relationship between diplomacy and peacetime aerial
reconnaissance. The study concludes that peacetime aerial reconnaissance and diplomacy have
shaped each other. By acting as a diplomatic indicator and agent through its physical presence,
and by providing critical information to diplomatic principals, peacetime aerial reconnaissance
has shaped diplomatic engagement and has served as a lens through which national decision
makers view the world.
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Contents
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Introduction 1
Definitions and Assumptions 4
Approach, Conceptual Framework, and Chapter Summaries 9
Limitations and Scope 16
Existing Studies and Associated Literature 19
Onward 66
Chapter Two: The Beginnings of Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance 67
Introduction 67
World War II Ends—An Uneasy Peace 68
A Brief Look Back—Peacetime Reconnaissance Before World War II 75
Setting the Pace—The Beginnings of Strategic Aerial Reconnaissance 83
The Search for Impunity—The U-2 and SR-71 Programs 103
Recon, Rinse, Repeat—Normalizing Peacetime Operations 128
Legalese—Sovereignty, International Law, and Aerial Reconnaissance 145
Chapter Summary and Conclusion 155
Chapter Three: Crisis Reconnaissance 159
Introduction 159
The 1956 Suez Crisis 160
Presence—1956 Suez Crisis 173
Penetration—1956 Suez Crisis 179
Justification—1956 Suez Crisis 181
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Result—1956 Suez Crisis 184
Conclusion—1956 Suez Crisis 192
The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 196
Presence—1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 204
Penetration—1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 212
Justification—1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 219
Result—1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 223
Conclusion—1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 229
Chapter Summary and Conclusion 232
Chapter Four: Air Monitoring 236
Introduction 236
The Treaty on Open Skies 237
Presence—Open Skies 246
Penetration—Open Skies 251
Justification—Open Skies 257
Result—Open Skies 262
Conclusion—Open Skies 267
Air Monitoring in the Sinai 270
Presence—Air Monitoring in the Sinai 279
Penetration—Air Monitoring in the Sinai 285
Justification—Aerial Verification in the Sinai 289
Result—Air Monitoring in the Sinai 293
Conclusion—Air Monitoring in the Sinai 298
Chapter Summary and Conclusion 301
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Chapter Five: Sensitive Reconnaissance Operations 305
Introduction 305
1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 306
Presence—1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 313
Penetration—1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 319
Justification—1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 323
Result—1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 329
Conclusion—1969 EC-121 Shoot-Down 337
2001 EP-3 Incident 339
Presence—2001 EP-3 Incident 347
Penetration—2001 EP-3 Incident 353
Justification—2001 EP-3 Incident 357
Result—2001 EP-3 Incident 365
Conclusion—2001 EP-3 Incident 370
Chapter Summary and Conclusion 372
Chapter Six: Conclusions 376
Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance and American Diplomacy 377
Appendix A: Survey of Peacetime Reconnaissance 1945-2001 401
Appendix B: Maps and Illustrations 413
Bibliography 441
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Chapter One: Introduction
Study of intelligence, surveillance and espionage…is the ‘missing
dimension’ to most studies of international relations and
diplomacy.1
Introduction
As you read, there is a very high probability that tens to hundreds of American aircraft are
aloft around the globe surveying and collecting information important to the United States and its
leadership. The aircraft and their crews, deployed by national civilian and military authorities,
seek information on many subjects: national security, military postures, scientific research,
diplomatic, demographic patterns, and international treaties to name but a few. These missions
are agents of the questions asked by American leadership, who seek information to make
decisions, and of the answers returned to them. Similar aerial surveillance and reconnaissance
missions have contributed one tile at a time—outside of combat and major military operations—
to America’s regenerative and robust mosaic of vigilance since the mid 1940s. Cumulatively,
they have provided much more than intelligence. The aerial reconnaissance program, especially
when employed outside of war, projects a unique daily American presence all around the world.
Because of this global reach and its information capabilities, the United States has placed aerial
reconnaissance in roles that delve into the diplomatic: to signal American interest, exercise
international freedom of navigation, analyze humanitarian crisis and natural disasters, investigate
developing situations for leadership, and underwrite diplomatic efforts to end violent crises.
1 Martin S. Alexander, partially quoting Sir Alexander Cadogan, permanent secretary at the British Foreign Office from 1938 to
1945, in Martin Alexander, "Introduction: Knowing Your Friends, Assessing Your Allies--Perspectives on Intra-Alliance
Intelligence," Intelligence and National Security 13, no. 1 (1998): 1.
1