would fly at altitudes beyond the reach of Soviet missiles. Lockheed
Aircraft Corporation won the contract to manufacture the U-2 to Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency (CIA)design and use specifications.
The U-2 began flights in 1956, bringing back extraordinarily de-
tailed photographs of targets, especially of Soviet defenses. President
Dwight D. Eisenhowerretained final say on whether or not each
flight would occur. When the Soviets shot down a U-2 flight piloted
by Francis Gary Powerson 1 May 1960, President Eisenhower dis-
continued the flights, claiming that they were interfering with
U.S.–Soviet relations. The A-12 and its successor, the SR-71 Black-
bird, replaced the U-2 as the principal photoreconnaissance asset in
the mid-1960s.
Beginning in the 1960s, satellite collection of intelligence began to
overshadow photographic intelligence(PHOTINT) collected by air-
borne platforms like the U-2 and SR-71. These two aircraft are still in
service despite decommissioning in the past. In their current configu-
rations, U-2 aircraft carry imagery intelligence(IMINT) equipment as
well as sensors that gather signals intelligence (SIGINT) that can be
transmitted by means of satellite link to intelligence analysts in as lit-
tle as four minutes. The U.S. government now employs the airplanes in
treaty verification, antiterrorism, counternarcotics, and patrolling truce
lines in areas where U.S. forces are engaged in peacekeeping duties.ULTRA.See ENIGMA.UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS (USSR).See SO-
VIETUNIONUNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY (USIA). The United
States Information Agency, which existed from August 1953 until
October 1999, was established to engage in “public diplomacy,”
which to some people is synonymous with propaganda. The agency
was known as the United States Information Service (USIS) overseas
but could not use that abbreviation in order to avoid confusion with
the United States Immigration Service.
The USIA’s mission was to understand, inform, and influence for-
eign publics in promotion of the national interest and to broaden the
dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions and their counter-208 • ULTRA05-398 (2) Dictionary.qxd 10/20/05 6:27 AM Page 208