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U-2 spy plane
first flight 1955; shot down over the USSR May 1, 1960· Invention or discovery· Technology, codes & intelligence
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
High-altitude American spy plane built in secret for the CIA to photograph the Soviet Union from about 70,000 feet.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Lockheed's Skunk Works team under Kelly Johnson designed the U-2 in 1954–55 as a jet-powered glider: long, thin wings let it cruise at about 70,000 feet (21 km), above Soviet fighters of the day. From 1956 its cameras mapped Soviet airfields, bomber bases and missile sites. On May 1, 1960, a Soviet missile downed pilot Francis Gary Powers, and the scandal wrecked a Paris summit. In October 1962 a U-2 found Soviet missiles in Cuba. Updated versions still flew into the 2020s.
Why it matters
It gave US leaders hard photographic facts about Soviet strength in place of guesswork, and its 1960 loss showed the political risk of flying over a rival's territory.
How we know
The CIA's declassified official history (released 1998, more fully in 2013), Powers's wreckage on display in Moscow, his trial record, and the 1962 Cuba photographs, now public.
Still debated
Why Eisenhower approved a flight so close to the Paris summit, and exactly how the missile hit Powers's plane, are still discussed.
Inside this (2)
Connections (6)
▸U-2 spy plane photographed the missiles that triggered the Cuban Missile CrisisWell documented
The connection
On October 14, 1962, a U-2 flown by Major Richard Heyser photographed Soviet medium-range missile sites at San Cristóbal in western Cuba. Analysts identified them by comparing them with earlier photos of Soviet sites. Shown to President Kennedy on October 16, the photos began the 13-day crisis; on October 27 a U-2 was shot down over Cuba.
When and how
Western Cuba, October 14, 1962; analysis at the National Photographic Interpretation Center in Washington; U-2 pilot Major Rudolf Anderson was killed October 27.
How we know
The original photographs are declassified and public, and Kennedy's taped White House meetings record his reaction.
Debates and open questions
Why US intelligence missed the buildup for weeks, partly because overflights of Cuba had been restricted that September, is still examined.
▸U-2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR during the Cold WarWell documented
The connection
On May 1, 1960, a Soviet SA-2 missile brought down Francis Gary Powers's U-2 near Sverdlovsk. Washington claimed a lost weather plane; Khrushchev then revealed the captured pilot and wreckage. The embarrassment wrecked the Paris summit two weeks later and chilled US–Soviet relations. Powers was exchanged for a Soviet spy in 1962.
When and how
Near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), USSR, May 1, 1960; the Paris summit collapsed May 16; the exchange took place on Berlin's Glienicke Bridge, February 1962.
How we know
The wreckage displayed in Moscow, Powers's public trial, Eisenhower administration records and CIA histories document the incident.
Debates and open questions
How the missile hit and at what altitude Powers was flying were long disputed; some historians think the summit would have failed anyway.
▸U-2 spy plane was followed by the much faster SR-71 BlackbirdWell documented
The connection
Even before Powers was shot down, the CIA knew Soviet missiles would soon reach the U-2. In 1959 it asked Lockheed's Skunk Works for a successor relying on speed: the A-12, which became the Air Force's two-seat SR-71. Yet the slower, cheaper U-2 kept flying long after the Blackbird retired.
When and how
Burbank, California, 1959; the CIA's Project Oxcart under Richard Bissell, designed by Kelly Johnson's team; the A-12 first flew in 1962.
How we know
Declassified CIA histories of the U-2 and Oxcart programs document the plan for a successor.
Debates and open questions
Why the U-2 outlived the faster SR-71 comes down to a cost debate: the Blackbird's expense versus satellites and the U-2's flexibility.
▸Corona spy satellites replaced risky overflights by the U-2 spy planeWell documented
The connection
After Francis Gary Powers was shot down in May 1960, Eisenhower ended U-2 flights over the Soviet Union. Three months later Corona's first film return covered more Soviet territory than all U-2 missions combined, with no pilot at risk. Satellites took over the strategic watch; U-2s turned to places such as Cuba.
When and how
Over the Pacific near Hawaii, August 1960, when a C-119 caught Discoverer 14's capsule; U-2 flights over the USSR had stopped in May.
How we know
Declassified CIA and National Reconnaissance Office histories compare the coverage and record the end of the overflights.
Debates and open questions
Early Corona images were blurrier than U-2 photos, so the plane stayed useful for detail; how sharply the roles split is debated.
▸Area 51 (Groom Lake) and secret 'black' aircraft programs was chosen in 1955 to test the U-2 spy planeWell documented
The connection
The CIA needed a hidden place to test its new spy plane. In April 1955 a Lockheed and CIA team flew over the Nevada desert and picked the flat dry bed of Groom Lake, beside the atomic test site, where airspace was already restricted. The first U-2 flew there that August.
When and how
Groom Lake, Nevada, April–August 1955; Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier, designer Kelly Johnson and the CIA's Richard Bissell.
How we know
The CIA's declassified history of the U-2 program, released in full in 2013, describes how the site was chosen.
Debates and open questions
The site's later history is still largely classified; the CIA says many local UFO reports of the era were really U-2 test flights.
▸Lockheed Skunk Works designed and built the U-2 spy planeWell documented
The connection
Hired by the CIA in late 1954, the Skunk Works built the U-2, a jet-powered glider able to fly above 70,000 feet, in about eight months. From 1956 it photographed Soviet bases, showing the feared 'bomber gap' was false, until a Soviet missile downed pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1960.
When and how
Burbank, then Groom Lake, Nevada; first flight August 1955; Soviet overflights July 1956 – May 1960, under CIA program head Richard Bissell.
How we know
CIA histories declassified in 1998 and 2013, the photographs themselves, and Soviet records of the Powers shootdown.
Debates and open questions
Whether the overflights' intelligence was worth the risk is debated: the Powers shootdown wrecked the 1960 Paris summit.