On 1 May 1960, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces while performing photographic aerial reconnaissance deep into Soviet territory. The single-seat aircraft, flown by pilot Francis Gary Powers, was hit by an S-75 Dvina (SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missile and crashed near …
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The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division. American aerospace engineer Clarence “Kelly” …
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In 1958, the Central Intelligence Agency started sponsoring a program known as Diamond Lil, in which Chinese Nationalist pilots were trained to fly Martin RB-57D Canberra high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Six Black Cat Squadron Taiwanese pilots were trained on the B-57C at Laughlin AFB, Texas, arriving back in Taiwan, and two …
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