Washington D.C.: CIA U-2 radar evasion group formed
On August 16, 1956, CIA official Richard M. Bissell formed a team including Edwin H. Land, Edward Mills Purcell, and Kelly Johnson to address Soviet radar detection of U-2 spy flights by exploring radar-absorbing materials.
Background
Background
In the context of the Cold War, the CIA conducted high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union from 1956 in order to gather strategic intelligence. Soviet radar systems began to detect these flights, however, which put their covert nature at risk.
Event
On August 16, 1956, Richard M. Bissell, a senior CIA officer, assembled a group of specialists in Washington, D.C. to develop solutions to Soviet radar detection. The advisers included the Polaroid founder Edwin H. Land, the physicist Edward Mills Purcell, and the Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson. They examined materials capable of absorbing radar waves, as part of Project Rainbow to reduce the U-2's radar cross-section.
Significance
This initiative marked the beginning of intensive stealth research, which later led to the A-12 OXCART programme. It underlined the urgency of protecting U-2 missions from Soviet detection, as the first overflights were already being tracked in 1956. There are no direct witness accounts, but declassified documents confirm the participants and objectives.