U‐2 Incident

U‐2 Incident (1960).In the 1950s, the specter of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor continued to haunt America's security officials. Could the nation's Cold War adversary, the Soviet Union, similarly strike the United States—this time with nuclear weapons? Was there a “bomber gap” that favored the USSR? To answer these questions, U.S. officials developed improved methods of intelligence gathering to probe Soviet military capabilities and intentions.

The first breakthrough was the high‐altitude U‐2 reconnaissance aircraft, the “Black Lady of Espionage,” secretly built by the Lockheed Corporation in cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Air Force. The U‐2's first flight over the USSR took place on 4 July 1956. Additional flights deep into Soviet territory provided photography clear enough to persuade American leaders that the Soviets had far fewer long‐range bombers and missiles than initially feared, although they could not make this information public lest their spying capabilities be compromised.

On 1 May 1960, the Soviets shot down over Sverdlovsk in Russia a U‐2 piloted by Frances Gary Powers. The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration first claimed that a weather plane had veered off course, but Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev released photos of Powers, who had been captured, and the reconnaissance instruments. The incident embarrassed the United States on the eve of a Paris summit conference. The Soviets withdrew in protest, gaining a propaganda victory and setting back superpower relations. President Eisenhower suspended U‐2 missions and promised Khrushchev that he would curb further flights. Instead, the United States increasingly relied upon satellite photography from the more secure confines of space. U‐2 flights remained an important intelligence source in the Cold War, however, as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis would demonstrate. The Soviets released Powers in 1962 in exchange for a convicted Russian spy.
See also Intelligence Gathering and Espionage.

Bibliography

Michael Beschloss , Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and the U‐2 Affair, 1986.
Richard M. Bissell Jr.,, with Jonathan E. Lewis, and and Frances T. Pudlo , Reflections of a Cold Warrior, 1996.

Loch K. Johnson