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Project Palladium

CIA

CIA electronic warfare program that created phantom radar targets to test Soviet air defense capabilities and protect U-2 and A-12 aircraft

  Origins and Context

The CIA developed Project Palladium in 1962 to evaluate Soviet radar detection capabilities, particularly the P-14 "Tall King" early warning system.1 The program emerged from concerns about the vulnerability of the A-12 Oxcart reconnaissance aircraft to improved Soviet air defenses.2

  Program Structure

The system used specialized transmitters to inject false targets into enemy radar networks, simulating aircraft of various radar cross-sections.3 Operations included submarine-launched calibrated radar reflectors and coordinated electronic deception missions with NSA signals intelligence support.4

  Legacy

Palladium demonstrated that Soviet air defense systems could detect even reduced radar cross-section aircraft like the A-12.5 The program advanced electronic warfare techniques and influenced future radar deception technologies.6

  References

  1. Poteat, S. Eugene. "Stealth, Countermeasures and ELINT 1960-1975." Studies in Intelligence (1998). ↩

  2. McIninch, Thomas. "The OXCART Story." Studies in Intelligence, CIA (1971). ↩

  3. Barnes, T.D. "CIA Special Projects at Area 51." Roadrunners Internationale Archives. ↩

  4. "Project Palladium Operations Report." CIA Historical Collections Division (1963). ↩

  5. Robarge, David. "Archangel: CIA's Supersonic A-12 Reconnaissance Aircraft." CIA Historical Collections (2007). ↩

  6. "Electronic Warfare Development Programs." NSA Technical Journal, Vol. 18 No. 3 (1973). ↩

Published on January 1, 1962

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