Background

Beginning in 1946, United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 conducted aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance

Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...

 flights along the borders of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and its satellite states in order to determine the size, composition, and disposition of Soviet forces.

The necessity of peacetime overflights was reinforced after the escalation of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 in the late 1940s and, in particular, after the Korea War started in 1950. US President Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

 authorized selected overflights of the Soviet Union in order to determine the status of its air forces. It was feared that the Soviets might launch a surprise aerial attack on the United States with long-range bombers.

First flights

In 1952 one of the modified B-47B bombers made the first deep-penetration U.S. overflight of Soviet territory to photograph Soviet bombers in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

 (limited coastal overflights had been conducted by the US Air Force and the US Navy aircraft several months earlier). This mission established the fact that the Soviets were not massing bombers in eastern Siberia.

Overflights of the Soviet Union with the newly designated RB-47Es continued through 1954, often at great risk since they were routinely intercepted by Soviet MiGs. It became apparent that a new aircraft was needed that could operate at altitudes well above any Soviet air defenses.

U-2 missions

In November 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 approved a secret program under the direction of the CIA to build and fly a special-purpose high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft named Project AQUATONE. Lockheed was chosen to build the reconnaissance plane and in August 1955 the first Lockheed U-2

Lockheed U-2

The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...

 was test-flown.

Other strategic reconnaissance missions continued as the U-2 tests were ongoing. In early 1956 Project GENETRIX

GENETRIX

Project Genetrix was a United States Air Force program which, beginning in January 1956, sent 516 surveillance balloons over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in order to take photographs and collect intelligence. Authorized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on December 27, 1955, Genetrix was the...

 involved using high-altitude photo-reconnaissance balloon

Balloon

A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...

s that were intended to collect photographic intelligence as they drifted across the Soviet Union.

During Project HOMERUN

HOMERUN

HOMERUN was a secret US aerial reconnaissance operation against the USSR in 1956.Project HOMERUN was conducted between March and May 1956. During that time RB-47E and RB-47H reconnaissance aircraft flew almost daily flights over the North Pole to photograph and gather electronic intelligence over...

 (between March and May 1956) RB-47E reconnaissance aircraft flew almost daily flights over the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

 to photograph and gather electronic intelligence over the entire northern section of the Soviet Union.

On 4 July 1956, the first U-2 flight over the Soviet Union took place. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

 angrily protested this overflight and feared that “when they understand that we are defenseless against an aerial attack, it will push the Americans to begin the war earlier.” This prompted the Soviet Union to develop new air defense systems.

Strategic overflight reconnaissance in peacetime became routine U.S. policy. Project OXCART

Oxcart

Oxcart or ox cart can mean:*Bullock cart, a cart pulled by oxen*CIA codename for the program to produce the Lockheed A-12 spyplaneSee also:*Ox-Cart Library*Ox-Cart Man*Red River ox cart...

 advanced aerial overflight reconnaissance capabilities with the development of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

Discontinuance

US reconnaissance overflights were discontinued after satellite reconnaissance was implemented in 1960. After the 1960 U-2 incident, Eisenhower had to confirm that overflights took place, and claimed that they were necessary for US security.

More than 40 US aircraft were downed by Soviet forces and about 200 US servicemen were killed; their families were given misinformation by the US military about how they died.

External links

• B-47
• "A Tale of Two Airplanes" by Kingdon R. "King" Hawes, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)