What did the declassified documents reveal?

Mission C027C over the People’s Republic of China – a Central Intelligence Agency record dated seventeen January, nineteen sixty‑seven – is a six‑page resume of a high‑altitude photographic reconnaissance flight. The document is notable because it details a Cold War aerial survey of strategic airfields and missile sites along the southern coast of China, and it provides the first public glimpse of the CIA’s “Canned Route” program. The memorandum was released through a Freedom of Information Act request filed under case number CIA‑FOIA‑2002‑018. The record was declassified on the nineteenth of August, two thousand and two, by the Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, and it now resides in the public domain at archive.org under the identifier CI01788. Resume of Mission C027C General. Mission C027C, designated Canned Route One thousand forty‑six, was alerted in January nineteen sixty‑seven, Zulu date. The flight was briefed for take‑off on the fourth of January and departed from the designated launch point designated 25X1A. The area covered extended twenty miles east of Hong Kong northward past Canton, then to Kan Hsien Air Field, east past Lien Cheng Air Field, southeast toward Lung Chi Air Field, west approximately one hundred fifty miles, and finally to Swatow. Pre‑planned mission data. The planned route measured one thousand six hundred ninety‑six nautical miles. The projected time to the high‑cone point was four thousand four hundred twenty‑five hours. The penetration altitude was set at seventy thousand feet. The maximum altitude for the profile was seventy thousand feet. Planned fuel load at take‑off was one thousand twenty gallons, with a reserve of one hundred eighty‑five gallons at the high‑cone point. The mission called for twenty‑five targets. Mission data as flown. Penetration of the denied area was achieved over Hong Kong at sixty‑nine thousand five hundred feet. The flight proceeded generally as briefed over mainland China and exited the denied territory south of Swatow. The total mission duration was five hundred forty‑one hours. Eleven of the designated targets were covered, including six baseline coverage targets. An additional twenty‑eight COMOR (Combined Operational Reconnaissance) targets were photographed, with results ranging from poor to good because of cloud cover. Thirteen further targets were covered, bringing the grand total to fifty‑two. Five targets were overflown but were completely obscured by clouds. Of particular interest was a photograph of the Nanhai Air Field and the Canton SA‑2 surface‑to‑air missile site, which appeared to be in an operational configuration. Weather was worse than briefed in the northern portion of the route, classified as Category Four and Five, while the western and southern areas were Category One, and the south‑east areas varied between Category Two and Three. Air defense reactions, Chinese Communist. Fighter reaction. No fighter intercepts were observed by the mission pilot…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

CIA Mission C027c Over The People’s Republic Of China – A Central Intelligence

◆ BLUF — The short version

Mission C027C over the People’s Republic of China – a Central Intelligence Agency record dated seventeen January, nineteen sixty‑seven – is a six‑page resume of a high‑altitude photographic reconnaissance flight.

Date: AUG 17 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was CIA Mission C027c Over The People’s Republic Of China – A Central Intelligence about?: Mission C027C over the People’s Republic of China – a Central Intelligence Agency record dated seventeen January, nineteen sixty‑seven – is a six‑page resume of a high‑altitude photographic reconnaissance flight.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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