Things I didn’t know: U.S.-Soviet Cold War shenanigans in Finnish airspace
Two things I learned from one article in the new issue of the Journal of Military History
Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on January 13, 2015.
Best Defense is in summer re-runs. This item originally appeared on January 13, 2015.
Two things I learned from one article in the new issue of the Journal of Military History:
–In May 1954, Soviet MiGs and two U.S. RB-47s exchanged fire over Finland. (The B-47 had a 20mm cannon in its tail.)
–In 1968, the CIA planned to fly an A-12 Oxcart through Finnish airspace on a flight plan straight for Leningrad, going nearly 2,000 miles an hour at 78,500 feet. The aircraft would turn before entering Soviet airspace. This was of course a test of Soviet air defenses. It also seems like a good way to start a world war. The article says it isn’t clear if the flight ever took place.
U.S. Air Force
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