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We start with a brief look at the development of the U-2, an aircraft that was expected to have a very short lifespan, with development starting in 1953 and the aircraft expected to be obsolete in its main role by 1960! As a result Lockheed came up with a relatively simple development of their F-104 Starfighter, using much of the same fuselage but with new longer wings. However, the resulting aircraft (in modified form) is still in service at the time of writing (2025), finding new roles. The section on training includes interesting details on how difficult the U-2 was to land, even needed a second pilot trailing it in a fast land vehicle to give instructions to the pilot.
We then move onto the U-2’s short career in its original role. The aircraft had been designed to fly over the Soviet Union to find out if the large nuclear bomber fleet Khrushchev claimed to have actually existing. Early flights showed that the U-2 could already be detected by Soviet radar, meaning that promises made to President Eisenhower that it would be undetected were already broken. At first the Soviets were unable to actually threaten the U-2, but that didn’t last. Famously they shot down the U-2 being flow by Frank Powers in March 1960, exactly when the U-2 had been expected to become obsolete in that role.
Although the Powers incident ended U-2 flights over the Soviet Union the aircraft was still an effective reconnaissance aircraft, usable in other areas. It was soon in regular use over Cuba, Vietnam, China and other areas of interest to US intelligence. The aircraft was so useful that a new modified version was developed in the 1960s, and again in the 1980s, and the type has remained in constant service for over 50 years.
This is a good history of one of the most succesful military aircraft of the post-war period, despite being best known for its very public failure in 1960!
Chapters
1 – Bald Eagle and Aquatone
2 – Soviet Overflights
3 – Sam Response
4 – Global Reach
5 – ‘Black Cats’
6 – Vietname Operations
7 – New Variants
8 – Battlefield Reconnaissance
Author: Peter E Davies
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2024