US Air Combat Losses to the USSR

Twenty US - Soviet Shoot Down Incidents in the Cold War

© Christopher Eger

Vigilance Park, NSA.gov

Between 1950 and 1970 there were a score of US military aircraft shot down by the military of the Soviet Union in undeclared war.

From the Berlin Airlift until the fall of the Berlin Wall the United States and Soviet Union faced each other in the air hundreds of times. The bloodiest period started in 1950 when Soviet fighters shot down a US Navy patrol craft over the Baltic Sea off of what is now Latvia. From then until 1970 the blood flowed as American aircraft penetrated Russian airspace and paid the price. In a twelve-year period 19 more US planes, mainly reconnaissance aircraft, were destroyed in one-sided fights with Russian MiGs. Below is a list of known losses during this very hot period of the cold war:

Sources

By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War William E. Burrows

Military Aircraft of the Cold War Jim Winchester

The Official reports of the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs


The copyright of the article US Air Combat Losses to the USSR in Military History is owned by Christopher Eger. Permission to republish US Air Combat Losses to the USSR must be granted by the author in writing.




Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo