Cold war shoot downs: Part one

Air Classics, Apr 2001 by Larson, George A

DETAILING AMERICAN AIRCRAFT LOSSES IN THE DEADLY GAME Of GATHERING INTELLIGENCE OVER THE SOVIET UNION

The Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union can be traced to a diplomatic and arms race which started with a speech on 12 March 1947, in the United States. In this speech, before a Joint Session of the United States Congress, President Harry S Tman requested a one-time funding appropriation of $400,000,000 which Congress approved. The funds requested were to provide military assistance to a beleaguered Creek government to counter a Communist insurgency in that country.

The term Cold War refers to an intense period of diplomatic and military hostility, often through client states, blowing up during the Cuban Missile Crisis which was a near nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. This confrontation did not end until the 1990s, with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall in Germany, and the break up of what President Ronald Reagan referred to as the "Evil Empire." During this Cold War, United States military aircraft flew thousands of covert reconnaissance intelligence flights. These intelligence collection flights gathered electronic signals and photographic intelligence to verify and identify strategic targets in the event of a nuclear war between the two Super Powers, and provide the Strategic Air Command's (SAC) bombers penetration routes into the Soviet Union.

These missions were classified top secret and considered high risk military operations because of deliberate violations of Soviet air space. When and where possible, the Soviet Air Force sent up fighters to shadow US intelligence flights and to harass, intimidate, and shoot down these aircraft. Some of these aircraft crew members were captured by Soviet military forces, survived, and returned to US authorities. There have been, over a period of years, supposedly live sightings of American airmen at various confinement camps.

The Cold War was governed by the fear of a possible nuclear confrontation. But, it was through manned aerial reconnaissance missions that the hidden story of an undeclared confrontation unfolded. This aerial combat did not escalate into World War Three but Cold War shoot-down incidents resulted in crew deaths and missing personnel. The Soviet government was reluctant to admit to these shoot-downs. Equally secretive was the United States, hiding the circumstances under which these aircraft were lost. Intelligence missions were considered covert operations, necessary to collect strategic intelligence information on the true military capabilities of the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States slowly released classified records on these missions and Soviet responses to them. With the veil of secrecy dropped, the Cold War shoot-down incidents showed the deadly intensity of the undeclared air war.

The United States, prior to the out-break of the Korean War (25 June 1950), used a modified version of the Boeing Superfortress (RB-29) to collect intelligence against the Soviet Union. The RB-29 carried an eleven-- man crew with the forward bomb bay modified to carry six aerial photographic reconnaissance cameras. On 22 October 1949, a USAF RB-29, on an intelligence collection reconnaissance mission against the Soviet far east was returning to Yokota Air Base, Japan, when attacked by two Soviet Yakovlev Yak 9 piston-powered single-seat fighters. The RB29 was over international waters, the Sea of Japan, when it was fired on by the Soviet fighters. The RB-29 was able to break off and out-distance the attackers. These were the first shots in the undeclared air war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

During April 1950, a PB4Y-2, operating out of Port Lyautey, Morocco, assigned to VP26, was shot down over the Baltic Sea by four Soviet La 11 fighters. The USN used the PB4Y-2 as a long-range aerial reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol aircraft. Even though a carry over from WWII operations, the USN retained thi, reconnaissance aircraft, although in small numbers, in continuous service until the early 1960s. The PB4Y-2 crashed into the Baltic Sea while operating in international air space. The La 11 was a longrange single-seat piston-powered fighter heavily armed with four 22mm cannon.

Shortly after the shoot-down, the Soviet government acknowledged its fighters attacked the Privateer. Premier Joseph Stalin's Foreign Minister stated the US aircraft was attacked because it was flying in Soviet air space and had fired on the Soviets after they attempted to signal the American aircraft to land. The Soviet government also, at the time and later, indicated it had no information about survivors from this flight. The entire crew was lost, although there were unconfirmed reports that one or more of the crew was in an interment camp.

On 15 July 1950, a USAF RB-29, on a routine intelligence reconnaissance mission, was attacked by two Soviet La 11 fighters operating from Permskoye airfield, near Komsomolsk, along the Amur River, approximately 40 miles from the coast, in the Sea of Japan. The RB-29 climbed away from the fighters, heading farther out into the Sea of Japan.