Cold war shoot downs: Part two

Air Classics, Jun 2001 by Larson, George A

The response to the vulnerability of US reconnaissance aircraft was first flown on 1 August 1955, at Groom Dry Lake, at that time an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) test facility. The Air Force gave this top secret aircraft the designation of Utility-2, or U-2. Flight tests determined the aircraft had excellent photo reconnaissance capabilities of current Soviet fighters. The U-2 could fly above 70,000 feet, operate with near impunity from Soviet MiGs and, at higher altitudes, away from the MiG 21 (deployed late in the over flight operations of the U-2). The MiG 21 could climb to these altitudes in a maneuver called a zoom to altitude, reaching favorable altitude of 40,000 feet, going to maximum afterburner, attaining maximum speed, then climbing straight up so it could reach the U-2's altitude. The U-- 2 could turn away from climbing Soviet fighters. The U-2 was specifically designed as a very high altitude aircraft with a range in excess of 4500 miles. The U-2, a creation of Kelly Johnson at Lockheed Aircraft Company, was quickly designed, rapidly produced, while pilots were recruited and trained to fly this demanding aircraft, and both were sent to overseas forward bases where missions were planned and they immediately were pressed into flying covert intelligence collection operations by the CIA and provided badly needed intelligence information on Soviet mil-\itary capabilities.

The first authorized U-2 over flight of the Soviet Union (sanctioned by President Eisenhower) was against high priority Soviet military installations around Leningrad and Moscow, as well as sell as along the flight path into the

Soviet Union and back to Wiesbaden Air Force Base, West Germany. Soviet radar acquired the U-2 prior to its entering Soviet air space, but at an altitude well above which Soviet ers could reach. Also, at this time, Soviet surface-to-air-missiles (SAMs) were still under development and testing. The development of the SA-2 eventually threatened and ended U-2 over flights of the Soviet Union.

On 23 August 1956, a USN Martin P4M Mercator, on patrol in the Taiwan Strait (at the strait's north end) was intercepted by two Chinese Air Force MiG 15s. The P4M was carrying a crew of sixteen. The MiG-15s intercepted the P4M, approximately 140 miles north of Taiwan, 32 miles from the Chinese coast. Chinese authorities claimed the P4M was actually a Nationalist Chinese aircraft, loaned by the United States. The P4M deliberately violated Chinese air space, was chased and shot down. All crew members on the aircraft were lost off coastal city of Wen Chow.

On 10 September 1956, a USAF RB-50, operating out of Yokota Air Base and assigned to the 41st Air Division, 5th Air Force, was lost over the Sea of Japan. The aircraft penetrated typhoon Emma and all 16 crew members were lost in the storm. There was no indication the RB-50 was shot down. The disappearance is part of the unknown losses which occurred during the Cold War. On 23 December 1957, a USAF Lockheed T-33 was lost. The trainer had been modified for intelligence gathering. The T-33 was listed as missing over the Adriatic Sea off the Yugoslavia coast, with the pilot never recovered. No official explanation was released on the loss of the T-33.

By 1958, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was given responsibility for establishing a Photographic Intelligence Center (PIC), controlling all processing (photo interpretation) of aerial reconnaissance. This was due to the CIA's responsibility for the U-2 program. By 1961, PIC was replaced by the National Photographic Intelligence Center (NPIC).

A USAF RB-50 (in early 1958) on a reconnaissance collection mission, flying from Turkey, along the southern border of the Soviet Union, disappeared because of unknown causes. Later, along the same area of operations (also in early 1958), another American aircraft disappeared. No information was released by American authorities on the type of aircraft lost or circumstances for its loss. On 6 March 1958, a USAF F-- 86D was lost off the coast of North Korea. The pilot ejected and was recovered. Again, no official cause was given for the F-86D loss.

On 27 June 1958, a USAF C-118, with a crew of nine, strayed into Soviet air space. The C-118's navigator made a heading transfer plotting error and the aircraft flew into the Soviet Union. The C-118 was an enlarged version of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster. The C-- 118 was intercepted by two MiG 15s at low altitude, 30 miles inside the Soviet Union near the city of Yerevan, capital of Soviet Armenia, which shot down the US aircraft. The crew reported, after being handed over to American authorities, Soviet fighters continued to fire on the burning aircraft all the way to the ground. Five of the crew parachuted, reaching the ground, surrounded by Soviet peasants who treated them badly until the arrival of Soviet military personnel. The remaining four crew men stayed with the aircraft, escaping from the burning C-118 after the crash landing. All were held by Soviet authorities and were turned over to American officials in Moscow on 7 July 1958.