Shadow flights : America's secret air war against the Soviet Union / Curtis Peebles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peebles, Curtis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Espionage, American.

History.

Military relations.

United States--Foreign relations--Soviet Union.

United States.

International relations.

Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Foreign relations--United States.

United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989.

United States--Military relations--Soviet Union.

Soviet Union--Military relations--United States.

Air warfare--History.

Air warfare.

Espionage, American--Soviet Union--History.

Cold War.

Physical Description:

vi, 322 pages, 18 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Novato, CA : Presidio, [2000]

Summary:

At the beginning of the Cold War the United States conducted a secret air war against the Soviet Union. As the struggle began, these pilots were the pathfinders who flew into the unknown, seeking information on how the USSR might be preparing an attack on the West. Flown by a handful of U.S. and allied aircrews, these photographic and electronic intelligence-gathering missions were unknown to the world at large.

The United States needed information on all aspects of the USSR's military and industrial strengths and weaknesses. This posed difficulties for U.S. intelligence. It was disorganized and divided, with limited resources compared to that of the World War II era. The USSR, its opponent, covered a huge land mass and was a police state whose reach extended into every Soviet home as well as various places around the world.

Flying along the borders of the Soviet bloc was dangerous. If attacked by Russian MiG fighters, the converted bombers and transports used for these missions were virtually helpless. Many were shot down or simply disappeared, bringing capture, imprisonment, and death to the crews. Publicly these losses became all-hands-lost "training accidents."

Riskier yet were actual overflights of targets inside the Soviet bloc. The extreme danger of overflights led to the development of the famed U-2 spyplane, an aircraft that could fly higher than any other, foreign or domestic. While the downing of Francis Gary Powers blew the lid off the super-secret U-2 program and ended the overflights, the history of our aerial war against the Soviets remained cloaked in secrecy as the Cold War went into a deep freeze.

In the tradition of the bestselling Blind Man's Bluff, author Peebles draws on previously top secret Soviet and U.S. documents, as well as the recollections of participants on both sides. The result is an intriguing and exciting history of this secret, and often very hot "theater" of the Cold War.

Contents:

1 Early Covert Overflights 4

2 Covert Overflights Under Eisenhower 40

3 The Birth of the U-2 62

4 Genetrix and Homerun 106

5 Early U-2 Overflights 130

6 Soft Touch 164

7 The Missile Gap 195

8 From Touchdown to Grand Slam 231

9 Reflections on a Secret War 278.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 290-303) and index.

ISBN:

0891417001

OCLC:

44266408