What was the U-2 incident and how did it affect the Cold War?

Answer 1

On May 1, 1960, CIA pilot (and former Air Force Captain) Francis Gary Powers, flying a CIA Lockheed U-2C spy plane, crossed the Soviet border (as many previous U-2 flights had covertly done before) to snap pictures of Soviet ICBM and plutonium reactor sites in preparation for upcoming talks between the U.S., USSR, France and Britain.

All previous flights had been successful, with the U-2's extreme altitude and speed proving too much for Soviet fighters and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM's). However, on Power's flight, the Soviets got lucky and a SAM explosion crippled the U-2, forcing Powers to bail out and the plane to crash.

Not only did the plane survive relatively intact, Powers was captured alive and well. His fate was not known for several days, and the Eisenhower Administration issued press releases saying that it was a NASA weather plane, lost north of Turkey, and that the pilot had reported oxygen problems prior to loss of contact. The facade continued with a U-2 painted with NASA colors and bogus numbers was shown to the press.

Upon hearing the U.S. report, Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev issued a statement that the USSR had successfully downed a "spy plane", but deliberately withheld the fact that they had Powers and the plane itself. The Eisenhower Administration told the Russians that it might be the same plane, but still proclaimed that "there was absolutely no deliberate attempt to violate Soviet airspace and never has been". They were caught in a lie when Khrushchev dropped the bomb that Powers was alive (he failed to use his suicide device) and that they had the remains of the U-2 essentially intact, including the camera, from which they were able to develop several photos and determine what facilities were being photographed.

The incident led to a serious deterioration in relations between the U.S. and USSR, with Khrushchev walking out of the summit meeting in part because Eisenhower refused to publicly apologize for it. Bringing their complaint to the United Nations, the Soviets were soundly rebuked when the attempted to get a vote of condemnation against the U.S. for the incident.

The aftermath led to the accelerated development of several new systems to accomplish the same tasks, notably the Corona Satellite program, the A-12 OXCART program (Lockheed A-12, precursor to the SR-71 "Blackbird" spy plane that replaced the U-2), and the Lockheed D-21 unmanned drone (Mach 3 capability), which was designed to be carried aboard and launched from the SR-71.

It should be noted that Eisenhower, increasingly uncomfortable with the U-2 flights over Russia, had to be persuaded to allow the Powers flight, as he was increasingly concerned the Russians would eventually bring one down.