The U-2 is a single engine, very high altitude reconnaissance aircraft made of wafer thin aluminum and equipped with a hi tech camera.
it was called the 13 Day crisis. it started on 14 October 1961 when American U2 spy planes detected Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile sites in Cuba and ended on the 27th of October when Khrushchev demanded the removal of missiles from Turkey in his second letter.
1. Korean War 2. NATO 3. Blockade of Berlin 4. propaganda 5. Nuclear Test banned
The Gary Powers U-2 incident in May 1960, where an American spy plane was shot down over Soviet airspace, heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. This event exposed the extent of U.S. espionage and led to a deterioration in diplomatic relations, undermining trust. The subsequent failure of a planned summit between President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev intensified Cold War hostilities, setting the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, where the U.S. and the USSR were pushed to the brink of nuclear conflict.
A spy plane took a picture of the where the missiles were being stored.
The U2 spy plane with Gary Powers at the controls
it was called the 13 Day crisis. it started on 14 October 1961 when American U2 spy planes detected Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile sites in Cuba and ended on the 27th of October when Khrushchev demanded the removal of missiles from Turkey in his second letter.
1. Korean War 2. NATO 3. Blockade of Berlin 4. propaganda 5. Nuclear Test banned
The Gary Powers U-2 incident in May 1960, where an American spy plane was shot down over Soviet airspace, heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. This event exposed the extent of U.S. espionage and led to a deterioration in diplomatic relations, undermining trust. The subsequent failure of a planned summit between President Eisenhower and Premier Khrushchev intensified Cold War hostilities, setting the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, where the U.S. and the USSR were pushed to the brink of nuclear conflict.
A spy plane took a picture of the where the missiles were being stored.
American U2 planes discovered installation sites being built in Cuba by the soviets. Kennedy called together the National Security Council, DOD, etc. to discuss what to do with this. We came up with three options. 1)Invade Cuba-Bay of pigs was a failure. 2) Air Strike- were afraid if we did do that ,t hey would shoot our planes3) Leave it alone. No one was really satisfied with those three option so we decided to Quarantine AKA Blockade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis scared everyone to death; we were on the verge of nuclear war. In 1963 the US and the Soviet Union Signed a nuclear Test Ban Treaty which banned the testing of atomic weapons. A hotline was also set up between Moscow and Washington D.C.
The U2 spy plane with Gary Powers at the controls
In the Cold War the American Airforce used an Airplane called a U-2. It was used as a spy plane and could take photos from extreme heights. They were flown many times over Cuba so the Americans had some idea of what the Soviet Union and Cuba were doing in Cuba at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis that nearly ended the world. On May 1st one of these was shot down and was a great embarrassment to America as they had to admit to their surveillance. The Band U2 got it's name from that aircraft.U2 are named after the US Air Force spy plane (still in operation) that was extensively used during the cold war. In the 1960's Captain Gary Powers was flying one over the Soviet Union when he was shot down and imprisoned.It was the name of an American-made spyplane in the 1950's and 1960's....In U2's early stages, there was a friend that was in a band before themselves. They asked him for some band names, and he gave them 6. They chose U2, because apparently it was the best out of all 6. They said that the name didn't pop out at them, it just started to grow on them over time.Ask Bono!
I'm sure he probably told them everything he knew, which was out of date and no more than their own radio and radar could tell them. It just took them a while to develop a missile that could reach that high, and Oswald knew nothing about how to do that.
President Kennedy admitted to lack of missile gap unlike Eisenhower. He said that the US was way ahead of the Soviets in the developing missiles. This made Khrushchev (The Soviet leader) look bad. And this angers Cuba a lot especially, after our failed attempt with the Bay of Pigs. Castro starts to buddy up with the Soviets a lot more. Khrushchev doesn't want to see the US take Cuba down. So he offers to arm Castro with weapons. The US had the Soviet Union surrounded with missile sites and the Soviets wanted at least one site near the US. If they could get Cuba they would have their "one place". A U2 planes discovered installation sites being built in Cuba by the soviets. Kennedy called together the National Security Council, DOD, etc. to discuss what to do with this. We came up with three options. 1)Invade Cuba-Bay of pigs was a failure. 2) Air Strike- were afraid if we did do that ,t hey would shoot our planes3) Leave it alone. No one was really satisfied with those three option so we decided to Quarantine AKA Blockade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis scared everyone to death; we were on the verge of nuclear war. In 1963 the US and the Soviet Union Signed a nuclear Test Ban Treaty which banned the testing of atomic weapons. A hotline was also set up between Moscow and Washington D.C.
In 1962, the world learned that there was a build up of medium range missiles and missile bases in Cuba. U2 spy planes actually photographed the missiles and the bases.
The U2 spy plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile on May 1, 1960, while flying over Soviet airspace. The incident heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Powers was captured and later exchanged for a Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, in a high-profile prisoner swap.
Francis Gary Powers was the pilot of the Lockheed U2 spy plane that was shot down by the former USSR with a surface to air missile (SAM) in 1960. After lengthy negotiations, a prisoner exchange was made returning Powers to the United States. [JMH]