COLD WAR SPY FIGHTS
KEVIN WRIGHT EXPOSES THE UK’S CLANDESTINE USE OF LOCKHEED U-2 SPY PLANES IN THE LATE 1950S AND EARLY 1960S.
America’s amazing Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was born out of the Cold War need for information on the biggest threat to the Western nations – the mighty USSR. First flown in August 1955, the U-2 could fly at 55,000ft (later increased to more than 70,000ft). It could remain on station for several hours and bring back pinshape images – vital in the days before satellites were commonplace. It was one of the first ‘stealth’ aircraft of sorts and is still flown operationally by the USAF today.
A little-known fact is that Britain was heavily involved in the U-2 programme during the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the UK government steadfastly refusing to admit any significant part in the spy plane’s operations for many years.
This reluctance has eased as time has moved on, and the gradual release of previously classified files (mainly from the USA) has begun to fill in details of British U-2 overflights of the Middle East and Soviet Union for a short period at the height of the Cold War.
Following Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s resignation in January 1957 after the Suez deb…
