"CIA's A-12 represents a pioneering achievement in ... A pair of S-75/SA-2 SAM sites launched no less than six missiles at the spy plane, which was reportedly flying with a speed of Mach 3.1 ...

Skunk works department of Lockheed, tasked with black projects throughout the cold war, was already working on A-12. This was a project financed by that shady CIA money and made to replace U-2 ...

This article is the first in a two-part series on “Operation Whale Tail,” the CIA’s ambitious project to reformat a U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane for aircraft carrier use. The second article ...

The spy agency’s director ... not the CIA, and the A-12 was the CIA’s plane.” Whatever the reason, the Black Shield program would end on a tragic note the month it was canceled when an ...

This article is the second in a two-part series on “Operation Whale Tail,” the CIA’s ambitious project to reformat a U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane for aircraft carrier use. The first article was ...

With cameras strapped to their breasts, they were once meant to collect aerial images from a closer range than the CIA’s Cold War-era U-2 spy plane or the CORONA satellites. The program ...