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A Look At Cold War Reconnaissance Aircraft
Photo And Some Text Source: US Air Force Museum
One of the most important and dangerous missions during the Cold War era was electronic and photographic reconnaissance. USAF crews often flew perilously close to a border over land or just outside the twelve mile limit defining international waters. We actually were having our planes shot down but until the Soviets shot down our U-2, most people were unaware of this and still are. A camera was developed by Boston University in 1951 for deployment in reconnaissance aircraft. What made it unique at the time was the fact that it could photograph a golf ball from 45,000 feet. That's about 8.5 miles up. Imagine what can be done today. The size of the negative was 18" X 36". One of the first planes it was installed in was the RB-36. Optics advanced so fast that this camera became a museum piece in 1964.
Left: The huge camera on display at the museum In 1952 through 1953 China captured 15 US Air Force pilots and crewmen on charges of violating their air space during the Korean War. The first became a prisoner when his F-86 was shot down. Next the pilot of an F-84 was captured. The next incident was when a B-29 was attacked and 11 of the crew made it to the ground. Three others in the plane weren't so lucky. Then a F-86 was shot down by MiGs. The last pilot to be captured was also from an F-86.
Left:F-84 On 15 March 1953, a B-50 reconnaissance plane of the 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was attacked by a pair of Soviet MiG-15s The plane, nicknamed "The Laboring Lady", was flying in international airspace, approximately 25 miles off the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Soviet Pacific coast when two MiGs. intercepted the USAF plane. After escorting the B-50 for a short time, one Soviet pilot opened fire on the B-50. The B-50's central fire control gunner, Technical Sergeant Jesse Prim immediately returned fire after the aircraft commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rich, gave the OK to protect the plane. Although Prim did not hit the attacking plane, his quick action surprised the MiG pilot who quickly broke off his attack and returned to his base.
B-50 Two days after the armistice was signed ending the Korean War, a Boeing RB-50 reconnaissance plane assigned to the 343rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS), 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, temporarily attached to the 91st SRS based at Yokota Air Base, Japan, was shot down over the Sea of Japan in international waters in an area about 100 miles southeast of Vladivostok, a city just north of North Korea on the east coast of the Soviet Union. During the early and mid 1950s, the United States grew increasingly apprehensive concerning the Soviet Union's development of advanced weapons including aircraft, air defense radar & missile systems, and atomic bombs. The Berlin Airlift and Korean War increased the level of mistrust on both sides; however, the closed Soviet society made gathering intelligence about the development of new weapons very difficult and greatly concerned the US and its allies. In an effort to obtain information about weapons development and deployment, the USAF conducted regular routine reconnaissance missions near the Soviet land borders or just outside the 12-mile limit defining international waters. In most cases, the planes were forbidden to fly into Soviet airspace, but in a few cases the need for information outweighed the risk of over flight and a plane was sent into the Soviet Union.
B-47 Over flies Soviet Union On 7 November 1954, a US Air Force RB-29 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down near Hokkaido Island in northern Japan. The plane carrying a crew of eleven was conducting routine photographic reconnaissance near Hokkaido and the southern most of the disputed Kuril islands. The plane was attacked by Soviet fighters and seriously damaged, forcing the crew to bail out. Ten crewmen were successfully rescued after landing in the sea; however, the eleventh man drowned when he became entangled in his parachute lines after landing. On 21 July 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed the "Open Skies" Treaty at a summit conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. Since the early 1950's the United States had tried to gain as much reconnaissance information as possible about the Soviet development of offensive weapons systems. Although most surveillance flights were carried out in international airspace off the coasts of Russia, a few flights were flown over Soviet territory in violation of international law. Gathering reliable intelligence information was very difficult. President Eisenhower reasoned that getting permission to over fly Soviet military facilities while granting permission for the Soviets to over fly US military installations would greatly ease tensions between the two superpowers. Unfortunately, the Soviets immediately rejected the "Open Skies" Treaty proposal fearing the US intended to trick the USSR into a disadvantageous position. As a result, the US was very apprehensive about Soviet development of long range bombers and more advanced nuclear weapons. The supposed "Bomber Gap" led President Eisenhower to authorize the continued reconnaissance flights (including the over flights) because the Soviet threat was judged to be more important than the international incident that would result if a US plane was shot down over Soviet territory. On May 1st, 1960, the international incident the United States dreaded happened when a CIA U-2 piloted by Frances Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet Territory near Sverdlovsk. Just two months later, a USAF RB-47 was shot down in international airspace resulting in the deaths of four crewmen and the capture of two more. These two men were held in Lubyanka Prison, Moscow for seven months before being released.
U-2 Spy Plane On July 1, 1960, a Soviet MiG fighter north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea shot down a six-man RB-47 crew .
RB-47 Probably at no time in this nation's history has the importance of aerial reconnaissance been demonstrated more dramatically than during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In September and October of that year, Soviet officials had persistently denied their intent to install offensive weapons in Cuba, only 90 miles from U.S. shores, despite intelligence reports to the contrary. On Oct. 14, two USAF high-flying U-2 reconnaissance aircraft photographed portions of Cuba and analysis of these photos confirmed that bases were being constructed for intermediate-range missiles within striking distance of the United States. On 27 October 1962, a U-2A (S/N 56-7611) flown by USAF Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. was shot down while flying high over Cuba conducting a reconnaissance mission during the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
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