Approved for Release: 2013/06/25
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Secret NOFORN
Chapter 5
210
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[figure]
* Soviet MRBM site in Cuba, 1 October 1962
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thousands of feet of film returned by Air Force and Navy reconnaissance aircraft. President Kennedy used NPIC photographs to illustrate his address to the nation on 22 October 1962, when he revealed the Soviet missile buildup in Cuba and declared his “naval quarantine” to prevent the shipment of offensive weapons to Cuba.
On 27 October, at the height of the crisis, one of the U-2Cs lent by the Agency to the Air Force was shot down over Cuba, killing the pilot, Maj. Rudolph Anderson. This loss again illustrated the U-2’s vulnerability to the SA-2 missile. Nevertheless, SAC U-2 overflights continued, both during and after the crisis. Responsibility for photographic coverage of Cuba remained with the Air Force; Agency pilots never flew another mission over the island.
Although SAC carried out most of the U-2 activity during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Agency’s U-2 missions had made vital contributions during the initial stages of the crisis. In all, Project IDEALIST pilots had spent 459 hours overflying Cuba during 1961 and 1962. They had provided concrete evidence of the Soviet buildup on the island, evidence that was simply not available through any
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Secret
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Approved for Release: 2013/06/25