The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960, during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower and prime minister Nikita Khrushchev, when the U-2 spy planes were shot down while in airspace Soviet. The plane, flown by pilot Francis Gary Powers, did an aerial photo reconnaissance when hit by surface-to-air S-75 Dvina (SA-2) missiles and crashed near Sverdlovsk. Powers are parachuted safely and captured.
Initially the US government lied about the purpose and mission of the plane, but was forced to admit to spying when the Soviet government uncovered captured pilots and U-2 remnants including spying on the technology and photos of military bases in the Soviet Union taken by aircraft. Coming about two weeks before the scheduled opening of the east-west meeting in Paris, the incident was embarrassing for the United States and prompted a deterioration in relation to the Soviet Union. Powers was sentenced to espionage and sentenced to three years in prison plus seven years of forced labor but was released two years later on February 10, 1962 during a prisoner exchange for Soviet officer Rudolf Abel.
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In July 1958, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower requested permission from Pakistani Prime Minister Huseyn Suhrawardy for the United States to establish a secret intelligence facility in Pakistan and for a U2 spy plane to fly from Pakistan. U-2 was flying at an altitude unattainable by Soviet fighter jets of that era; it is believed to be beyond the reach of Soviet missiles as well. A facility established at Badaber (Peshawar Air Station), 10 miles (16 km) from Peshawar, is a cover for major communication interception operations run by the United States National Security Agency (NSA). Badaber is an excellent location because of its proximity to Central Asia Soviet. This allows monitoring of missile test sites, key infrastructure and communications. U-2 "spy-in-the-sky" was allowed to use the Pakistani Air Force section at Peshawar Airport to obtain important intelligence photos in an era before satellite observations.
President Eisenhower did not want to fly a US U-2 pilot over the Soviet Union because he felt that if one of these pilots was shot or captured, it could be seen as an act of aggression. At a time like the Cold War, any act of aggression can trigger open conflict between the two countries. To ease the burden on Americans flying into Soviet airspace, the idea was developed so that British pilots from the Royal Air Force flew this mission in place of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). With Britain still recovering from the effects of the Suez Crisis and not in a position to insult American demand, the British government agreed with the proposal. Using British pilots enabled Eisenhower to be able to use U-2 aircraft to see what the Soviet Union hid, while still being able to deny any affiliates if a mission became disturbed.
After the success of the first two British pilots and due to the pressure to determine the number of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles more accurately, Eisenhower allowed two more missions before the Four-Power Summit of Paris, scheduled for May 16. The last two missions before the summit will be flown by American pilots.
On April 9, 1960, the U-2C spy plane from a special unit of the CIA "10-10," which was piloted by Captain Francis Powers, crossed the southern border of the Soviet Union in the Pamir Mountains area and flew over four Soviet secret military. objects: Semipalatinsk Test Site, Dolon Air Base where the Tu-95 strategic bomber is located, a surface-to-air missile test site (SAM) from the Soviet Air Defense Force near Saryshagan, and the Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome) range.
The plane was detected by the Soviet Air Defense Force when it flew over 250 kilometers (155 miles) above the Soviet national border and avoided some interception attempts by MiG-19 and Su-9 during the flight. U-2 left Soviet air space and landed on the Iranian airstrip at Zahedan. It is clear that the US Central Intelligence Agency has succeeded in performing exceptional intelligence operations. The subsequent flight of the U-2 spy plane from Peshawar airport is planned for late April.
Maps 1960 U-2 incident
Event
On April 28, 1960, the US Lockheed U-2C spy plane, Article 358, was transported from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to a US base at Peshawar airport by Glen Dunaway pilot. Fuel for aircraft had been transported to Peshawar the previous day in US C-124 air transport. The US Air Force C-130 follows, carrying the ground crew, mission pilot Francis Powers, and a backup pilot, Bob Ericson. On the morning of 29 April, the crew at Badaber were told that the mission had been postponed one day. As a result, Bob Ericson flew Article 358 back to Incirlik and John Shinn transported another U-2C, Article 360, from Incirlik to Peshawar. On April 30, the mission was postponed one day further due to bad weather in the Soviet Union.
The weather improved and on May 1, 15 days before the opening of the east-west summit in Paris, Captain Powers, flying Article 360, 56-6693 left the base in Peshawar on a mission with the GRAND operating code word GRAND SLAM to overwhelm the Soviet Union, photographing targets including ICBM sites in Baikonur Cosmodrome and Plesetsk Cosmodrome, then landing at BodÃÆ'¸ in Norway. At that time, the Soviet Union had six ICBM launch pads, two in Baikonur and four in Plesetsk. Mayak, then named Chelyabinsk-65, an important plutonium processing industry center, is one of the other targets that Powers uses to take pictures. A close study of Powers' account of the flight shows that one of the last targets, before being shot down, is the Chelyabinsk-65 plutonium production facility.
U-2 flights are expected, and all units of the Soviet Air Defense Force in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Ural, and later in the European Region of the Soviet Union and Northern Extreme, are placed on a red alert. Immediately after the plane was detected, Air Force Lieutenant General Yevgeniy Savitskiy ordered the air unit commander "to attack offenders by all standby flights located in foreign aircraft areas, and for ram if needed".
Due to the extreme height of U-2 operations, Soviet attempts to intercept the aircraft using failed combat aircraft. The U-2 course was out of reach of some of the nearby SAM sites, and one SAM site even failed to get involved on the plane because it was not on duty that day. The U-2 was finally lowered near Kosulino, the Urals, by the first surface-to-air missile from three SA-2 Guideline (S-75 Dvina) fired by batteries ordered by Mikhail Voronov. The SA-2 site had previously been identified by the CIA, using photos taken during the visit of Vice President Richard Nixon to Sverdlovsk in the previous summer.
Powers redeems it but forgets to break the oxygen hose first and fight with it until it breaks, allowing him to separate himself from the plane. Powers were arrested immediately after parachuting safely to Russian soil. Powers brings with him a modified silver dollar that contains a deadly scalloped saxitoxin needle but he does not use it.
The SAM command center did not realize that the aircraft was destroyed for more than 30 minutes. One of the Soviet MiG-19 fighters pursuing Powers was also destroyed by a missile salvo, and its pilot Sergei Safronov was killed. IFF MiGs Transponder has not switched to the new May code due to the May 1 holiday.
American cover-up and exposure
Four days after the disappearance of Powers, NASA issued a very detailed press release stating that a plane had been "lost" in northern Turkey. The press release speculated that the pilot might have fainted when the autopilot was still involved, even claiming wrongly that "the pilot reported during the emergency frequency that he had oxygen difficulty." To support this, the U-2 aircraft was quickly painted with NASA colors and displayed to the media. Under the impression that the pilot had died and that the plane had been destroyed, the Americans had decided to use a NASA cover-up plan. Nikita Khrushchev used American wrongs to embarrass President Eisenhower and his government.
On the same day on May 5, the Senate made its first comment on the U-2 incident, and started a domestic political controversy for Eisenhower. Mike Mansfield, Majority Major Whip, stated, "The first report shows that the President has no knowledge of the incident plane, and if that happens, we should ask whether this government has real control over the federal bureaucracy." Mansfield, more than anyone else, highlights the Eisenhower dilemma faced - Eisenhower can claim to be responsible for U-2 flights, and possibly ruin an opportunity to dÃÆ'Â © tente at the Paris summit, or he can continue to deny his knowledge and show that he is not in control of his own government.
After Khrushchev learned about NASA's cover story in America, he developed a political trap for Eisenhower. The plan begins with releasing information to the world that spy planes have been shot down in Soviet territory, but he did not disclose that this aircraft pilot has also been found and that he is still alive. With information released by Khrushchev, Americans believe they will be able to continue with their cover story that the fallen plane is a weather research aircraft and not a military spy plane. Incognito said that the pilot of a U-2 weather airplane had been over the radio that he had oxygen trouble while flying over Turkey. From there they claimed that the plane could continue in its path because of the pilot's car, and this could be a plane that crashed in the Soviet Union. The final attempt to make side stories seem as real as possible is the foundation of all U-2 aircraft for mandatory oxygen system inspection to ensure that no other "weather missions" will have the same results as those lost and may fall in the Soviet Union.
On May 7, Khrushchev set up his trap and announced:
I have to tell you a secret. When I made my first report, I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well... and now only see how many silly things the Americans say.
Also, due to the release of several photographic planes, there is evidence that most of the U-2 technology secrets survived the crash. From Khrushchev this can openly embarrass the administration of Eisenhower by exposing the cover-up effort.
Khrushchev is still trying to let Eisenhower save face, perhaps to save the peace summit to some degree, by specifically laying the blame not on Eisenhower himself, but to the Central Intelligence Director Allen Dulles and the CIA: Khrushchev said that anyone who wants to understand U-2 Mission must "seek a reply from Allen Dulles, on whose instructions the American aircraft flies over the Soviet Union." On May 9, the Soviet prime minister told US ambassador Thompson that he "could not help but suspect that someone had launched this operation with the intent of damaging the summit." Thompson also wrote in his diplomatic cable that Khrushchev suspected it was Allen Dulles, and that Khrushchev had heard of Senator Mansfield's statement that Eisenhower had not controlled his own government.
Upon receiving this cable, Eisenhower, who is often very excited, calm and depressed. The only word he told his secretary was, "I want to resign." Meanwhile, domestic pressure continues to rise. Eisenhower then accepted Dulles' argument that the congressional leadership should be briefed on the U-2 mission of the last four years. Dulles told the legislature that all U-2 flights are used for air espionage and have been flown under "presidential directives". However, Dulles played down Eisenhower's direct role in approving any previous U-2 flight.
The next day on May 10, without consultation with the heads of the agency, House Appropriations Chair Clarence Cannon received sufficient press attention when he, not President Eisenhower, revealed the true nature of the U-2 mission. He told an open session of the House of Representatives that the U-2 was a CIA aircraft involved in air spying over the Soviet Union. Cannon said,
Mr. Chairman, on May 1, the Soviet Administration was seized, 1,300 miles within the confines of the Russian empire, an American plane, operated by an American pilot, under the direction and control of the US Central Intelligence Agency, and now holds both aircraft and pilot. The plane is on an espionage mission... The activity... under the supervision of the Commander of the United States Armed Forces, whose members are all highly regarded and whose military is highly respected. their capacity has complete self-confidence.
At the end of Cannon's speech, Democrats and Republicans did not usually rise to clap their hands.
Still Eisenhower faces criticism in the press for not controlling his own government, since Cannon's speech simply says the mission is "under the supervision" of the president, not "directed by". The press report creates public confidence that Eisenhower has lost control, which Eisenhower will not let him stand. Knowing that he jeopardized the Paris Peace Summit, Eisenhower decided to reveal an air espionage program and its immediate role in it, an unprecedented move for the US president. His speech on May 11 ranged from four main points: the need for intelligence gathering activities; the nature of intelligence gathering activities; how intelligence activity should be seen (as unpleasant, but vital); and finally that Americans should not be distracted from the real problems of the day. Eisenhower closed down excitedly by reacting to the Soviet claim that the US acted provocatively and said: "They better see their own espionage." When he finished, he told reporters that he would still go to the Paris Peace Summit.
Today most of the wrecks as well as many items of the Powers survival package are on display at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. A small piece of the plane was returned to the United States and displayed at the National Cryptologic Museum.
Intelligence
Since 1948, Selmer Nilsen of Norway has been recruited by the Soviet intelligence organization GRU, among other foreigners, to spy on allied activities in NATO countries. Nilsen was assigned to witness allied military activity in northern Norway. Operation U-2 is linked to BodÃÆ'Â bandara airport, which is one of its permanent stations. Selmer Nilsen noted the U-2 activity at BodÃÆ'¸ and forwarded much of the military information to the Soviet Union. He was convicted of espionage in 1968 in a closed court in Norway, with a sentence of seven years and six months in prison. He was released after three years.
Aftermath
The contemporary reaction to the U-2 incident and its effect on the Four Powers Summit
The meeting was attended by Eisenhower, Khrushchev, French President Charles de Gaulle, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. This was the first conference attended by Soviet and Western leaders in five years. However, the prospect of constructive dialogue was destroyed by the explosive controversy surrounding the U-2 flight over Soviet territory.
Although the Fourth Powers Summit was the first meeting between western and Soviet leaders in the five years when it was held, an optimistic atmosphere that there would be a reduction of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. In an effort to present a more hostile and more friendly Soviet Union, Khrushchev openly advocated a policy of "peaceful coexistence with the United States." The May Day celebration of that year was marked by the spirit of this newly discovered cooperative. Absences are a military symbol of previous parades, such as artillery and armor. Instead there are children, white doves, and athletes. But the Soviet government's reaction to the spy plane's incident and the response from the United States undermined the potential for a meaningful peace deal.
In the days leading up to the conference, tensions increased dramatically between the United States and the Soviet Union over the U-2 incident. At this point in the negotiations, the hardliners of the Soviet government apply enormous pressure on Khrushchev. In the weeks leading up to the summit, there had been a revitalization of anti-American sentiment within the Kremlin, with the Soviets blocking travel plans to Washington DC from Soviet air marshales, inviting Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong to Moscow, and launching an anti-American press campaign designed to criticized "American aggression". At this time the east and west are divided on how to move forward in Berlin, and the American press characterizes Khrushchev's decision to emphasize the U-2 incident at the top in an attempt to gain influence on this issue.
The summit itself did not last long, with new talks starting on May 15 and ending on May 16. Both Eisenhower and Khrushchev made a statement on the 16th. Khrushchev condemned the United States for the U-2 incident. He points out that the policy of spying on secrets is one of unbelief and that the incident has hit the summit even before it begins. He expects the United States and Eisenhower to condemn spies and promises to end further surveillance missions.
At the summit, after Khrushchev blew up the cover of Eisenhower, Eisenhower did not deny that the plane was spying on Soviet military installations but argued that the action was not aggressive but defensive. He argues that the current state of international relations is not a situation where peaceful coexistence is an established fact. The US policy towards the Soviet Union at the time was defensive and alert. Eisenhower also stated that the dialogue at the Four Power Summit is a type of international negotiation that can lead to relations between the United States and the Soviet Union where there is no need to spy on each other. Eisenhower also drew up a plan for an international treaty authorizing U.N. to "examine" states that are willing to submit to their authority for signs of increased militarization and aggressive action. He stated that the United States would be more than willing to submit to such examinations by the United Nations and that he hopes to avoid spying controversy with this alternative international oversight treaty.
A meeting in which both parties made their statement lasted only three hours. During this time Khrushchev canceled an invitation previously given to Eisenhower to visit the Soviet Union.
According to Walter Cronkite, Khrushchev would go on to say that this incident was the beginning of his declining power as party president, probably because he apparently could not negotiate the international arena and communist militant groups at home. The collapse of the Summit also saw an increase in tensions between the Soviets and the Americans in the coming years. After this disaster, the arms race is accelerated and any consideration for negotiations is destroyed for the immediate future.
Consequences of peak fail
Due to a spy plane incident and a cover-up effort, the Fourth Power Summit of Paris has not been completed. At the start of the 16 May talks there was hope that both sides could unite even after the events that occurred in May, but Eisenhower refused to apologize and Khrushchev left the meeting one day after it started. Some have said that Khrushchev has overreacted to the event in an attempt to strengthen his own position, and for that, he is the one to blame for the collapse of the Fourth Power Summit of Paris.
Before the U-2 incident, Khrushchev and Eisenhower got along well and the summit would be an opportunity for both sides to unite. Also, Eisenhower had been waiting for a visit to the Soviet Union and was deeply disappointed when his invitation was withdrawn. The two sides will discuss topics such as nuclear weapons reduction and also how to cope with rising tensions around Berlin. According to Eisenhower, if it were not for the U-2 incident, the summit and his visit to the Soviet Union could greatly help Soviet and American relations.
The Soviet Union held a United Nations Security Council meeting on May 23 to tell their side of the story. The meetings lasted four days with other accusations of exchanged spying activities, as well as allegations of the Paris summit, and the United States' bid on an "open sky" proposal to allow reciprocal flights over the territory of each other , at the end the Soviet Union deeply lost its voice at a brief resolution that would condemn the attacks and ask the US to prevent their recurrence.
The incident greatly endangers Pakistan's security and exacerbates relations with the United States. In an effort to form a brave front, General Khalid Mahmud Arif of the Pakistani Army, commenting on the incident, stated that "Pakistan feels cheated because the United States has held him in the dark about a secret spy operation launched from Pakistan." Badaber officially closed on 7 January 1970. Furthermore, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee conducted a lengthy investigation into the U-2 incident.
Pilot fate
After his arrest, Gary Powers told Soviet kidnappers what his mission was and why he was in Soviet airspace. He did this in accordance with the orders he received before he continued his mission. Powers pleaded guilty and was sentenced to espionage on August 19 and sentenced to three years in prison and seven years of forced labor. He served a year and nine months before being exchanged with Rudolf Abel on February 10, 1962. The exchange took place at the Glienicke Bridge linking Potsdam, East Germany, to West Berlin.
New tactics and technologies
The incident shows that even high-altitude aircraft were vulnerable to Soviet surface-to-air missiles. As a result, the United States began to emphasize low-speed high-speed flights for previously high B-47, B-52 and B-58 bombers, and began developing supersonic F-111, which would include FB- Variant 111A for Strategic Air Command. Corona spy satellite project is accelerated. The CIA also accelerated the development of the Lockheed A-12 OXCART supersonic spy plane that first flew in 1962 and then began to develop the Lockheed D-21 unmanned aircraft.
Next version
The original consensus on the cause of the U-2 incident was that the spy plane had been shot down by one of the salvo of 14 Soviet SA-2 missiles. The story comes from Oleg Penkovsky, the GRU agent who spies on MI6. In 2010, CIA documents were released showing that "US officials have never trusted Powers' account of its escape because it appears to directly conflict with a report from the National Security Agency" which alleges that U-2 has dropped from 65,000 to 34,000 feet (19.812 to 10.363 m ) before changing direction and disappearing from the radar. One contemporary reading of the NSA story is that they mistakenly trace the MiG-19 descendants driven by Sr. Lieutenant Sergei Safronov.
Igor Mentyukov
In 1996, Soviet pilot Captain Igor Mentyukov claimed that, at an altitude of 65,000 feet (19,800 m), under orders to hit the intruder, he had captured the U-2 on an unarmed Sukhoi Su-9 slipstream, causing U- flipping and breaking its wings. Salvo missiles did score a hit, subduing the MiG-19's pursuit instead of U-2. Mentyukov said that if a missile strikes U-2, the pilot will not live.
Although the normal Su-9 service ceiling is 55,000 feet (16,800 m), the Mentyukov aircraft has been modified to reach a higher altitude, once the weapon is removed. Without a weapon, the only attack option open to him is the air impact. Mentyukov asserted that the Soviet generals concealed these facts to avoid challenging Nikita Khrushchev's belief in the efficiency of the Soviet air defense.
Sergei Khrushchev
In 2000, Sergei Khrushchev wrote about his father's experience, Nikita Khrushchev, in the incident. He described how Mentyukov tried to intercept the U-2, but failed to gain visual contact. Major Mikhail Voronov, who controls the anti-aircraft missile battery, fired three SA-2s on radar contacts but only one was turned on. It quickly climbs towards the target and explodes in the air behind the U-2 but is close enough to shake the plane firmly, tearing its long wings. At lower altitudes, Powers descended from the fallen plane and dropped to the ground. Uncertainty about the initial firing success resulted in 13 further anti-aircraft missiles fired by neighboring batteries, but the missiles then only hit the MiG-19 driven by Sr. Lieutenant Sergei Safronov, wounded him. The story of events occurring during the mission corresponds to the details given to the CIA by Gary Powers. According to Powers, a missile exploded behind him and after this happened his U-2 began to swoop. It was at this point that Powers began to make all the preparations for expulsion. Powers landed safely and tried to hide in the Russian countryside until he could get help. His attempt to do this failed and he was arrested. Sergei Safronov is posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Movies
In 2015 the feature film Steven Spielberg Bridge of Spies was released, which dramatized James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) talks for the release of Powers, but took a certain freedom with what really happened. For example, Power is shown tortured by the Soviets, when in fact he is well treated by his captors and spends most of his time making handicrafts.
In January 2016, the BBC magazine produced photos of the time and interviews with Powers' son.
See also
- United States airborne reconnaissance from the Soviet Union
- Second term curse
General:
- Cold War (1953-1962)
- Sandblast operation
Similar incidents:
- Hainan Island incident
- Airline Korea Flight 902
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Iran-US. Incident RQ-170
- Rudolf Anderson
References
Further reading
- Sergei N. Khrushchev. Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of the Powers . State College, PA: Penn State Press, 2000. ISBNÃ, 978-0-271-01927-7.
- Jay Miller. Lockheed U-2; Aerograph 3 . Aerofax Inc., 1983 (paperback) ISBNÃ, 0-942548-04-3.
- Pickett, William B. (2007). "Eisenhower, Khrushchev, and U-2 Affairs: Retrospective Forty Six Years". In Clifford, J. Garry; Wilson, Theodore A. President, Diplomat, and Other Man: Essays Honoring Robert H. Ferrell . Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp.Ã, 137-153. ISBN: 978-0-8262-1747-9.
- Chris Pocock. Dragon Lady; History of the U-2 Spyplane . Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1989 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-87938-393-0.
- Chris Pocock. 50 Years U-2; Complete Illustrations History of "Dragon Lady" . Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2005. ISBNÃ, 978-0-7643-2346-1.
- Phil Taubman. Secret Empire: Eisenhower, CIA, and Hidden Story of American Space Spying . New York: Simon & amp; Schuster, 2003. ISBNÃ, 0-684-85699-9.
- David M. Watry. Diplomacy at Brink: Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2014.
- Nigel West, Seven Spies Who Changed the World . London: Secker & amp; Warburg, 1991 (hard cover). ISBN 978-0-436-56603-5. London: Mandarin, 1992 (paperback). ISBN 978-0-7493-0620-5.
External links
- The incident of U-2 aircraft, according to the US State Department, Office Historian
- 1962 Russia frees US spy pilot
- Chelyabinsk-65/Ozersk
- U-2 Spy Incident - a slideshow by Life magazine
- Dwight D. Eisenhower & amp; Museum - contains a number of artifacts and documents relating to the U-2 incident
- "CIA and U-2 Program" (1998) - Central Intelligence Agency
- Central Army Museum in Moscow
- Short movie U-2 Spy Trial. Exploitation of the Hits Case Hit Ike By Reds, 1960/08/18 (1960) available for free download on the Internet Archive
- Short film Russian, 1960/05/05 (1960) available for free download on Internet Archive
- Short film News Highlights 1960, 1960/12/31 (1960) available for free download on the Internet Archive
- Short film Peak Crisis. Mr. K. In Ugly Mood Over U-2 Incident, 1960/05/16 (1960) available for free download on Internet Archive
- Short movie Powers Case. Ike States Policy On Spies and Open Skies, 1960/05/12 (1960) available for free download on Internet Archive
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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