ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Aviation Intelligence, Historyprojected a “missile gap.” This, too, would turn out to be afallacy, thanks to intelligence collection efforts, as well asstudies by ATIC in the 1950s.The capture of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1960did not bring an end to U.S. intelligence-gathering missions.American intelligence continued to use the U-2, aswell as other craft, including the SR-71 Blackbird and theA-12 Oxcart. All of these flew extensive missions overNorth Vietnam, North Korea, China, and the Middle East inthe 1960s. Overflights of Cuba using U-2s provided intelligencecritical to the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisisin October 1962. Other important aerial reconnaissancecraft used during the 1960s and beyond included the A3DSkywarrior and A3J Vigilante, both flown from aircraftcarriers, the RF-4 (a reconnaissance version of the F-4Phantom), the P-3 Orion, the C-47 and C-130, and others.In the realm of ATI, ATIC became the Foreign TechnologyDivision (FTD) in July 1961. FTD pioneered a numberof technologies for the analysis and production of intelligence.As with ATIC, which brought its first Readix computeron line in 1955, FTD personnel made extensive useof computers such as the Photo Online System (PHOTOLS),an imagery database introduced in 1961. FTD also introducedthe Central Information Reference and Control (CIRC)system, a computerized technical database, in 1963. Additionally,FTD pioneered machine translation of foreignlanguages in the Department of Defense. From an IBMMark I Translating Device acquired by ATIC in 1959, FTDgraduated to a Mark II, which provided word-for-wordRussian translations at the rate of 5,000 words per hour, inOctober 1963.From the Late Cold War tothe PresentDuring the late 1960s and early 1970s, FTD providedextensive support to U.S. efforts in Vietnam, including theDecember 1972 “Christmas bombings” of Hanoi andHaiphong. Beginning in 1969, FTD turned its attentionfrom war to the prospect for peace, providing intelligencethat greatly assisted U.S. diplomats taking part in theStrategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and later the StrategicArms Reduction Treaty (START) discussions. Throughoutthe era of detente that opened with these arms limitationtalks, the United States continued to conduct surveillanceagainst the Soviet Union. So, too, did the Soviets, whoseacquisition of numerous allies during the 1970s gave thema number of friendly bases from which to conduct aerialreconnaissance missions.U.S. efforts gained a massive boost with the launch ofthe KH-11, the first photographic satellite capable of directlytransmitting images to a control base, in December1976. The late Cold War also saw the introduction ofunmanned reconnaissance vehicles, first flown by the AirForce in the 1960s. During their 1982 invasion of Lebanon,the Israelis debuted their Scout drones, and in the PersianGulf War of 1991, the U.S. military made heavy use of thePioneer, modeled on the Scout. Operation Desert Stormalso saw the extensive use of American aerial capabilities,including the E-2C Hawkeye, J-STARS, Skywarrior, Orion,and other craft. Behind the scenes, FTD provided thePentagon with a veritable encyclopedia of Iraqi equipment,most of which had been produced by the soon-to-bedefunct Soviet Union.In October 1991, the Air Force established the AirForce Intelligence Command (AFIC), of which FTD becamea part as the Foreign Aerospace Science and TechnologyCenter (FASTC). Beginning in 1992, FASTC participated inthe Open Skies treaty, whereby friendly nations flew observationaircraft freely over one another’s territory tocollect information on military activities. FASTC operatedthe Open Skies Media Processing center from 1993. It alsoserved as project manager for Red Tigress, a componentof the Ballistic Missile Defense program, formerly knownas the Strategic Defense Initiative. In October 1993, AFICbecame the National Air Intelligence Center, which in turnmerged with Air Combat Command in February 2001.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Burrows, William E. By Any Means Necessary: America’sSecret Air War in the Cold War. New York: Farrar, Strausand Giroux, 2001.Kreis, John F. Piercing the Fog: Intelligence and Army AirForces Operations in World War II. Washington, D.C.:Air Force History and Museums Program, 1996.Polmar, Norman, and Thomas B. Allen. Spy Book: TheEncyclopedia of Espionage. New York: Random House,1998.Richelson, Jeffrey T. The U.S. Intelligence Community,fourth edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.Stanley, Roy M. World War II Photo Intelligence. NewYork: Scribner, 1981.Taubman, Philip. Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, andthe Hidden Story of America’s Space Espionage. NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 2003.ELECTRONIC:U.S. Air Combat Command. (April 13, 2003).SEE ALSOAircraft CarrierAir Force Intelligence, United StatesBallistic Missile Defense Organization, United StatesBalloon Reconnaissance, HistoryHypersonic AircraftJ-StarsKorean WarP-3 Orion Anti-Submarine Maritime ReconnaissanceAircraftPersian Gulf WarPhotographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), United StatesNationalPhotography, High-AltitudeReconnaissanceSIGINT (Signals Intelligence)76 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security