Fretek missions, i.e. games (cold)war

However, in the first half of the 1950s, the hottest American-Soviet confrontation took place not on the Baltic but on the nipponese Sea, which was partially the aftermath of the war on the Korean Peninsula. The Americans started. On September 4, 1950, they shot down close Vladivostok, the main russian naval base in the Pacific, a light A-20 Havoc bomber. Interestingly, the destroyed aircraft was American production, due to the fact that during planet War II the US delivered over 3,4,000 of these machines as military aid to the USSR. any of them were utilized by the Soviets long after it was finished.

A full of 9 cases of cross-shooting occurred between 1951 and 1955, in any case, so many are known. At the same time, the failure balance was unfavourable for Americans who lost as many as 8 aircraft. Worse still, there were 5 exploratory RB-29s, RB-47E and RB-50s among them. These specialized machines built on the basis of B-29/50 and B-47 bombers had multiple crews who did not return from the mission.

Airspace violations by intelligence machines caused an increased sense of danger, suspicion, or even hostility between the USSR and the West. This in turn brought a threat to civilian passenger aircraft, which were suspected of carrying out spy activities or were mistakenly taken as military machinery.

The first civilian aircraft to be shot down was the Aeroflot Il-12 with 21 people on board. This device was attacked by an American F-86F fighter over North Korea. The pilot mistakenly identified Ila as a North Korean aircraft. The incidental occurred on 27 July 1953, on the day of the signing of the truce ending the Korean War.

Exactly 2 years later, 27 July 1955, The Bulgarians targeted the Israeli airline El Al aircraft Lockheed Constellation with 58 people on board. For unknown reasons (considered an mistake in navigation) the device flying from Vienna to Tel Aviv was located in the depths of Bulgarian airspace, and the crew did not make recommendations to land at the airport there. After the investigation, the authorities in Sofia apologized for the “too hasty” actions of fighter pilots and agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims.

U-2 — out

The next decade did not bring peace, on the contrary. On May 1, 1960, the device behind which the CIA pilot, Captain Francis Gary Powers, sat was hit by a S-75 ground-to-air rocket and crashed into the Sverval Oblast. The shooting down of a U-2 spy aircraft was the loudest in the past of cold war clashes. The pilot captured by the Soviets was convicted of espionage (in 1962 he was listed as a russian agent). The incidental sparked an global scandal and led to the cancellation of the summit of the 4 powers in Paris, importantly worsening relations between the US and the USSR.

And that wasn't the end of the U-2 bad streak. Another device the Americans lost in October 1962 during the Cuban crisis. However, most U-2 (at least five) were lost in the 1960s and 1970s over China. Although aircraft was controlled by the U.S. intelligence agency of the CIA, it was piloted by Taiwanese, so there were no casualties among United States citizens. And the circumstances of these events stay a mystery to this day.
After the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, tension increased in the divided German territory. In the first months of 1964, the Soviets shot down 2 American aircraft over the German Democratic Republic, including the exploratory RB-66. The last military device owned by the U.S. that was destroyed in the air was a reconnaissance RU-8 Seminole. The event took place on October 21, 1970, over Armenia.

In time, the number of direct confrontations between russian and United States military aircraft was decreasing. 1 of the main reasons was the fear of uncontrolled escalation, which could lead to an open war. The improvement of technology was besides important. The machines began to be equipped with sensors that enabled you to conduct the diagnosis without having to approach enemy airspace, and even more so to fly into it. However, the Americans continued to carry out specified missions utilizing the RB-71 spy aircraft. In addition, the USA and the USSR expanded spy satellite systemswhich have become a key origin of information about the actions of the rival.

Despite this, there were inactive "incidents" involving civilian aircraft. The most tragic was the shooting down of Korean Boeing 747, which occurred at the nipponese Sea on September 1, 1983. The aircraft flew from fresh York through Anchorage to Seoul, but due to a navigational error, the crew strayed from the scheduled way and flew through russian airspace who took it as an American spy machine. The fire opened Su-15. 269 people were killed on board B 747. The USSR initially did not admit to shooting down, but the Americans revealed details of captured russian communications, including radio conversations of fighter pilots.

Hunting at sea

The confrontation took place not only in the air but besides at sea. In this case, submarines were usually utilized to identify hostile shores and military infrastructure. At the beginning of the Cold War, clashes were favored by the russian Union's view of a territorial area of 12 nautical miles wide as its waters, which the United States did not recognise respecting the limit of 3 nautical miles. This provoked the August 1957 incidental erstwhile the USS "Gudgeon" carried out a secret reconnaissance patrol close Vladivostok. The Soviets tracked down an American unit and forced it to surface. A compromising incidental for the U.S. Navy was kept secret and possibly classified by the US authorities. However, he showed the increasing capabilities of the russian Navy as well as their readiness to confront, even at the hazard of provoking a larger conflict.

Despite this, akin events took place in the Baltic off the coast of Sweden, starting from 1962 until the end of the Cold War. The Swedes suspected the Soviets of spying, but only erstwhile was clearly confirmed the violation of their territorial waters. On October 28, 1981, a russian U-137 ship was targeted, which was stranded about 30 km from Karlskrona. The papers released after the Cold War suggested that any of the suspicious events might have been linked to NATO units. specified infringements were carried out in agreement with the Swedish side to aid it detect gaps in the coastal defence system.

In addition to spying on the open sea, submarine crews attempted to undetectedly approach their opponent and even simulated an attack on him. It was a dangerous game due to the fact that there was a hazard of misreading the intentions of the another organization or the collision, which in the case of atomic weapons units on board could have disastrous consequences. Additionally, in the 1950 ’ s and 1960 ’ s there were cases of missing submarines on both sides at sea. The common suspicion led to their deliberate sinking by the rival. To reduce the threat of an escalation of conflict, the United States and the russian Union concluded an agreement in 1972 on preventing incidents at sea. However, it did not destruct them completely.

The last major launch took place on 12 February 1988 in the Black Sea, erstwhile 2 russian frigates deliberately hit US ships – the cruiser "Yorktown" and the destroyer "Caron". The reason was a political dispute between Moscow and Washington about the "right to harmless flow" across territorial waters. russian authorities have designated specified routes in the Baltic Sea and the nipponese and Ochocki seas. However, they did not accept it in the Black Sea.

Will the cold war experiences of decades ago affect the improvement of the current confrontation between Russia and the West? It's hard to say clearly. In the Cold War, Moscow was ready to negociate and conclude agreements that were meant to limit the number of incidents that could turn into a military crisis. The current Kremlin crew seems to be betting on escalation.