A-12 (Jet reconnaissance plane)

found: Work cat.: Remak, J. A-12 Blackbird declassified:p. 9 (an ultrasecret advance in aerial reconnaissance technology) p. 103 (the A-12 and the two-seat Air Force version, the SR-71) p. 104 (to casual observers, the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 appeared to be the same thing, but they were really quite different aircraft) p. 113 (the SR-71 - and her earlier and less well known sister, the A-12)

found: SR-71 Online WWW site, July 17, 2003(The A-12 is the forerunner of the SR-71)

found: Archangel, 2012:Foreword (A-12 reconnaissance aircraft) page 5 (A-12 selected 29 August 1959; OXCART selected to designate the R&D and later work on the A-12; the aircraft became know that as well)

found: Studies in Intelligence, v. 15, no. 1, viewed online May 11, 2018:The Oxcart Story (The official designation of the aircraft was A-12; called OXCART, a code word also applied to the program under which it was developed; progenitor of a similar but somewhat less sophisticated reconnaissance vehicle called the SR-71; OXCART fleet)

found: CIA, website, May 11, 2018:Home>>News&Information>>Featured Story Archive>>2015 Featured Story Archive>>OXCART vs Blackbird: Do You Know the Difference? (CIA's A-12 OXCART and the US Air Force's SR-71 Blackbird; CIA developed the highly secret A-12 OXCART as the U-2 spy plane's successor; became operational on November 12, 1965; The SR-71 Blackbird was the Air Force's two-seat follow-on version of the OXCART; the A-12 OXCART's unique design and characteristics became the foundation for three other versions of supersonic aircraft that Lockheed built for CIA and the Air Force; The A-12 was America's first stealth plane; In December 1962, the Air Force ordered six "reconnaissance/strike" or SR aircraft for high-speed, high-altitude flights over hostile territory: the SR-71 Blackbird; called Blackbird" because of the special black paint that covered the plane; SR-71 overt, AR-12 covert; President ordered the retirement of the A‑12 OXCART by 1968)