NODULE X7 OSWALD IN MINSK AND THE U2 DUMP: JANUARY ...

THE U-2 IN 1958
On March 2, 1958, the Soviet detected a violation of their airspace by a "military jet
aircraft." In March 1958 Model Airplane News published a story about the U-2, complete
with drawings. The article observed: "An unconfirmed rumor says that U-2's are flying
across the Iron Curtain taking aerial photographs." On April 21, 1958 the Soviets
identified the aircraft as a Lockheed U-2 type. Soviet Aviation, the official newspaper of
the Red Air Force, subsequently published articles about the U-2.
On April 21, 1958, the Soviets issued a press release accusing an "American military
reconnaissance aircraft of the Lockheed U-2 type, having appeared from the direction of
the Sea of Japan" of having violated Russian airspace. U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers
reported that in the fall of 1958:
There was no longer any doubt they knew about the overflights. Our
evidence of this was of the most conclusive kind. Although none of the
pilots had actually seen them, electronic equipment on returning U-2's
indicated the Russian were now sending up rockets attempting to bring us
down. At our altitude we weren't too worried about MIGs, but we were
beginning to be concerned about SAMs, surface-to-air missiles. By this
time a few of the unknowns were disappearing from the U-2 overflights.
We now knew that the Russians were radar tracking at least some of our
flights; it was possible that they had been doing so from the start.
Equipment on board recorded their signals; from their strength it was
possible to tell whether they were "painting," this is tracking the flight.
However this could only be determined after returning to base and
studying transcriptions. There was still no way, while in flight, to know for
sure.
We also knew that SAM's were being fired at us, that some were
uncomfortably close to our altitude. But we knew too that the Russians
had a control problem in their guidance system. Because of the speed of
the missile, and extremely thin atmosphere, it was impossible to make a
correction. This did not eliminate the possibility of a lucky hit. In our
navigation we were careful to ensure our routes circumvented known SAM
bring us down.
THE U-2 IN 1959
The press reported that a U-2 landed in a Japanese rice paddy in September 1959.
Knowing the Soviets were aware of the U-2 and were intent on shooting one down,
President Eisenhower considered suspending the flights. He told his intelligence
advisors during a February 2, 1960, meeting, "If one of these aircraft is lost when we are
engaged in apparently sincere deliberations, it would be put on display in Moscow and
ruin my effectiveness." The CIA was insistent that the U-2 flights over the Soviet Union
be continued, even expanded, because they brought back invaluable data. President