Air
Classics. Editors. "Spyplanes: America's
Covert Aircraft in Action." 2 (1988): entire issue. [Petersen]
Air Force
Magazine. Editors. "Blackbird." Feb. 1998, 54-61.
This feature article on the SR-71 includes a number of photographs.
Air Force Times. Editors. "Eye in the Sky Vision Improves." 26 (13 Jul. 1966): 14. [Petersen]
Air International. Editors. "Alconbury's
TR-1s: Ready for Reconnaissance Breakthrough." 27, no. 4 (1984): 206-208.
[Petersen]
Bissell,
Richard M., Jr. "Origins of the U-2." Interview by Brackley Shaw.
Air Power History 36, no. 4 (1989): 15-21.
As the DCI's special assistant for planning and coordination from 1954, Bissell directed the development of the U-2. Bissell's role in his later position as Deputy Director for Plans in organizing and carrying out the Bay of Pigs invasion has tended to obscure his earlier successes in developing the U-2 and portions of the satellite reconnaissance program.
Bissell, Richard M.,
Jr., with Jonathan E. Lewis and Frances T. Pudlo. Reflections of a Cold
Warrior: From Yalta to the Bay of Pigs. New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press, 1996. JK468I6B55
Shryock, WIR 15.6, sees Reflections of a Cold Warrior as a "thoughtful, candid, provocative, and ultimately puzzling memoir." However, at times, the author "conveys his thoughts in a stiff, disorganized, and even excessively lawyerly manner."
For Immerman, Choice 34.2, Bissell's "chronicle of his years as Allen Dulles's special assistant and then deputy director for operations is disappointing.... [The] memoir nevertheless has value. It provides a succinct history of some of America's most dramatic Cold War initiatives and insight into the mindsets of their architects."
Falcoff, National Interest, Winter 1996/1997, finds the book "informative and stimulating," despite "its unexciting prose and a tendency to flatten what must have been far more dramatic events."
"Methodological problems" with Bissell's memoirs are raised by Westerfield, Studies (Winter 1998-1999). Noting the clear acknowledgement that the "actual writing was done by [Bissell's] two collaborators," Westerfield also is concerned that "the posthumous additions (not clearly delineated ) obscure throughout what words were ever personally approved by Bissell and what ones were not."
Chambers concludes that "[t]here are no major disclosures. However, Bissell's personal recollections do add a new and useful viewpoint to the history of these operations." Click for a full review by Chambers.
Brown, William H. "J58/SR-71 Propulsion Integration." Studies in Intelligence 26, no. 2 (Summer 1982): 15-23.
Brugioni,
Dino A. "Alone and Unarmed: An Intelligence Insider Looks Back on the
Work that Set Recce Pilots Apart." Air&Space Magazine 14,
no. 6 (Feb./Mar. 2000): 78 ff.
Jonkers, AFIO WIN 17-00 (28 Apr. 2000), notes that the author's "style is direct and highly readable, and his information fascinating."
Bulloch, Chris. "View from the Top -- Intelligence Gathering from Aircraft and Spacecraft." Interavia 39 (Jan. 1984): 543-548. [Petersen]
Burrows,
William E. By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001.
A Publisher's Weekly, 13 Aug. 2001, reviewer congratulates the author for his "superb research and steller writing." Burrows uses "a host of personal interviews, among his many sources." And he "also examines the issue of intelligence gathering from the Soviet viewpoint."
Burrows, William E. Deep Black: Space Espionage and National Security. New York: Random House, 1987. New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1988. London: Bantam Press, 1988.
Taplin, IJI&C 2.1, argues that, for the most part, "Deep Black is a solidly crafted work -- both stylish and credible.... But, as he closes, Burrows cannot resist pressing his own judgments on the reader." Nonetheless, this is an "accurate description of current and future U.S. space-based technical collection systems.... Burrows' history of the growth of intelligence collection from the sky is so well done that I doubt anyone soon will present it better." He should, however, "more clearly acknowledge that the data base for his confident presentation has become more tenuous than in his earlier chapters."
According to Peake, AIJ 15.2, Burrows covers fixed-wing strategic systems (U-2 and SR-71) and photographic and SIGINT satellites for both the United States and the Soviet Union. "There is much here of interest." This is probably one of the best summaries of these intelligence systems in the public domain, "although that is not to say he has got all the technical detail right.... Deep Black ... gives a better overall summary of the programs than Richelson and is more reader friendly." For a critical review see Angelo Codevilla, "Ignorance vs. Intelligence," Commentary 83, no. 5 (1987): 76-80.
Cornelius,
George. "Air Reconnaissance: Great Silent Weapon." U.S. Naval
Institute Proceedings 87, no. 5 (1959): 35-42. [Petersen]
Crickmore,
Paul F. SR-71 Blackbird: Lockheed's Mach 3 Hot Shot. London: Osprey, 1987. Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. Rev. ed. London: Osprey, 1997, 2000.
The 1997 edition is a large format book with many black-and-white photographs. The dust cover states "In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary, USAF 1997" and "New Edition, 40 extra pages."
DeWitt, Robert. "Secret Hero." Tuscaloosa News, 25 May 2008. [http://www.tuscaloosanews.com]
Jack Weeks died in 1968 when his A-12 apparently exploded on a test flight. "A couple of weeks before his death, he became the pilot who located the USS Pueblo,... after it was captured by North Korean patrol boats.... Battleship Park, home of the USS Alabama, will commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death on June 4 with a ceremony that will include an Alabama Air National Guard fly-over."
Drendel, Lou. SR-71 Blackbird in Action. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1982. [Robarge]
Fulghum, David A.
1. "Storied Rivet Joint Adds New Missions." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 25 Nov. 2002, 54-55.
Expanding mission to include "real-time battlefield" intelligence.
2. "Upgraded Rivet Joints Prepared to Deploy." Aviation Week & Space Technology, 25 Nov. 2002, 56-58.
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