Beschreibung / Hintergrund:
Eisenhower funded a civilian based Lockheed to create a plane to fly above Soviet radar and collect information on their current military power. The basic design concept called for a reliable, cost efficient, long range, high altitude platform.
The U-2 was designed and built for surveillance missions in the thin atmosphere above 55,000 feet. An unusual single engine aircraft with glider wings, it was the product of Lockheed's Skunk Works in Burbank, California. The first 55 U-2s were built in the mid-1950s. These aircraft were modified many times creating versions A through H. The last of the original U-2s was retired in 1989. A total of ten survive and are in museums.
Its employment was kept secret until May 1, 1960 when a U2 was shot down over Russia, and its pilot, Gary Powers, was put in Russian prison for two years. On February 10, 1962 he was exchanged for a captured Russian spy at the Berlin border. This had a profound effect on military surveillance strategies as well as made it public knowledge to the world that "big brother" was watching. |