The Cold War Spy Plane - The Lockheed U-2
The U-2 spy plane was used extensively by the U.S. starting in the 1950s and continue to play a role during the Vietnam War.
The U-2 is famous for being flown over Cuba in 1962 during regular reconnaissance missions. In early fall of 1962, they photographed Soviet nuclear missiles being deployed and erected, which led to the October Cuban missile crisis.
In 1962 1960, during a spy mission over Soviet airspace, a U-2 piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet airspace by a surface-to-air missile. He was convicted of espionage by the Soviets and sentenced to three years in prison and seven years of hard labor. After 21 months of imprisonment, he was exchanged for a KGB colonel who, after setting up an art gallery in Brooklyn as a front for spying and recruiting agents, was captured by the FBI and convicted of espionage.
National Air & Space Museum
Independence Ave at 4th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20560
Hours
10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. daily
Admission is free
Parking
Parking in the mall area can be challenging, however metered spaces turn over frequently.
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Cuba map source: National Security Archive
2 Comments
Your date for power’s shoot down is wrong. It was May 1st, 1960, not 1962.
dlr
Thanks for correcting my date D.L., it was 1960.
A U-2 was also shot down in 1962, over Cuba, during the Cuban Missle Crisis.