Oxcart closedown

It seems almost unbelievable that during the very month Oxcart was finally declared operational (November 1965), and before the program had the opportunity of fully vindicating itself, moves were already afoot to close it down. The Bureau of the Budget (BoB) questioned the necessity and cost of funding both the covert CIA Oxcart A‑12 program and the “overt” USAF Senior Crown SR‑71 program. Its author proposed several less costly alternatives, recommending that the A‑12s be phased out by September 1966 and that all further procurement of SR‑71s should stop. Copies of the memorandum were circulated within limited circles of the Defense Department and the CIA, together with the suggestion that they explore the alternatives set out in the paper. Since the SR‑71 was not scheduled to become operational until September 1966, the Secretary of Defense quite rightly declined to accept the proposal. In July 1966, BoB officials proposed that a tri‑agency study group be set up to again establish ways of reducing costs of the two programs. After the study was completed, a meeting was convened on December 12, 1966, and a vote was taken during which three out of the four votes cast were in favor of terminating the Oxcart fleet in January 1968 (assuming an operational readiness date of September 1967 for the SR‑71) and assigning all missions to the SR‑71 fleet.

The BoB’s memorandum was transmitted to President Johnson on December 16 despite protestations from the DCI, Richard Helms, who was the sole dissenting voice in the vote. Twelve days later Johnson accepted the BoB’s recommendations and directed that the Oxcart program be terminated by January 1, 1968. However, as the Vietnam War escalated and the results of Black Shield’s outstanding work became apparent to a privileged few, the wisdom of the earlier phase‑out decision was called into question. As a result, the rundown lagged and the issue was again addressed. On November 3, 1967, the two competing aircraft types and their respective reconnaissance‑gathering sensors were pitted against one another in a stateside fly‑off codenamed Nice Girl. The outcome was deemed inconclusive, although the resolution of the A‑12’s Type I camera was better than the optics of the SR‑71. However, SR‑71 had the ability to gather simultaneous, synoptic coverage of a target area that not only included PHOTINT and SIGINT, but more importantly, RADINT, via its nose‑mounted, ground‑mapping radar antenna. Despite continued objections raised by Helms, the original decision to terminate Oxcart was reaffirmed on May 16, 1968 by the Secretary of Defense – a decision further endorsed five days later by President Johnson.

^{Scope Barn: the return of Oxcarts to Lockheed’s facility at Palmdale in California following program shutdown. This is a copy of the actual chart used by Frank Murray to position the last remaining A‑12 from Area 51 to Palmdale. (Roadrunners Internationale)}

Project officials decided that June 8, 1968 would be the earliest date to begin the redeployment from Kadena AB back to the United States. During the intervening period, sorties would be restricted to those essential for maintaining flight safety and pilot proficiency. Meanwhile, those aircraft back at Area 51 were to be flown to Lockheed’s facility at Palmdale in California and placed in storage by June 7. Back at Kadena, preparations were being made for Oxcart ferry flights back to the United States. Mission sensors were downloaded, low‑time/high‑performance engines were replaced with less highly‑tuned units, and Functional Check Flights (FCFs) were flown to confirm each aircraft’s readiness for the trans‑Pacific ferry flights.

^{Following program shutdown, the remaining M‑21 and eight A‑12s were placed in long‑term storage in a hangar at Palmdale, California. Note the bogus serial number in red that had been applied to Article 131, serial 60‑6937, during Operation Black Shield. The “US Air Force” titles and the star‑and‑bar national insignia were additions to Article 131 subsequent to the project being terminated. (Lockheed Martin)}

On June 4, 1968, Jack Weeks left Kadena in Article 129, with the intention of conducting an FCF; he completed a 34,000lb fuel on‑load from the tanker, accelerated, and climbed away, and that was the last anyone ever saw of both pilot and aircraft. Forty‑two minutes into the flight, the Birdwatcher‑sensor system on the A‑12 transmitted a signal to Kadena AB, indicating that the starboard engine EGT was in excess of 860 degrees C. Twenty‑two seconds later, Birdwatcher indicated that fuel flow to the same engine was less than 7,500lb per hour. Just eight seconds on and a third and final transmission from Article 129’s Birdwatcher repeated the earlier information; this time, however, it ominously included data indicating that the aircraft was now at or below 68,500ft. From this limited evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that some kind of malfunction involving an over‑temperature and low fuel flow on the right engine had somehow contributed to what appears to have been a catastrophic failure and subsequent aircraft break‑up. Not a trace of wreckage was ever found and it was particularly ironic and an especially cruel twist of fate to lose such a highly competent and professional pilot on one of the very last flights of the Oxcart program.

During early June 1968, the two remaining Black Shield A‑12s at Kadeana AB (Articles 127 and 131) were ferried back to Area 51 before being positioned to Palmdale. On reaching the Lockheed plant, company maintenance technicians drained all fuel and hydraulic lines, and Mel Rushing skillfully “interwove” all nine remaining Oxcart aircraft into a tightly regimented, sardine‑like parking array in a corner of one of the large hangars, where they remained for more than 20 years before being dispersed to museums.

On June 26, 1968, Deputy Director of the CIA, Vice Adm Rufus Taylor, presided over a ceremony at Area 51 where he presented the CIA Intelligence Star for Valor to Ken Collins, Jack Layton, Frank Murray, Denny Sullivan, and Mele Vojvodich for their participation in Black Shield; the posthumous award to Jack Weeks was accepted by his widow. The Legion of Merit was presented to Col Slip Slater and to his deputy, Col Amundson. In addition, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award was presented to members of the Oxcart Detachment, the 1129th Special Activities Squadron, also known as “The Road Runners.”

The long‑standing debate as to whether Oxcart, or a program known as Senior Crown, should carry forward the manned strategic reconnaissance baton, had been resolved: the single‑seat A‑12 was vanquished; the new kid on the block was to be the Air Force two‑seat SR‑71A. In early March 1968, SR‑71As began arriving at Kadena AB to take over the Black Shield commitment.