Spyflights And Overflights: Cold War Aerial Reconnaissance, Volume 1: 1945-1960 - Hardcover

Hopkins III, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1902109503 ISBN 13: 9781902109503

Publisher: Hikoki, 2016

Synopsis

Few aviation subjects have been shrouded in more secrecy or been more controversial than cold war aerial reconnaissance. Former reconnaissance pilot Robert S. Hopkins, III, offers new insights into strategic intelligence flights during the early years of the cold war. Primarily undertaken by RB-50s and RB-47s of the Strategic Air Command and by CIA U-2s, other Western nations such as Britain, Sweden, and Taiwan were equally committed to gathering intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies, and conducted their own peripheral and overflight missions. Hopkins challenges longstanding beliefs that the flights served to prevent war, curtailed needless defence spending, and were undertaken by rogue generals bent on starting World War Three. For the first time he shows the Soviet perspective on the flights, and makes a compelling case that reconnaissance flights did not have a sustained adverse effect on Soviet relations with the West. Using newly declassified materials, interviews with crews and policy makers, and his own experience flying strategic reconnaissance missions, Hopkins links the daily operations of courageous fliers with decisions by Presidents and Prime Ministers that decided the outcome of the cold war.

About this title

About the Author

Robert S. Hopkins, III, is a second generation US Air Force pilot flying 17 different variants of KC-, EC- and RC-135 during his Air Force career while his father flew B-47Es at Plattsburgh AFB, NY. In addition to multiple publications and appearances in aviation programs on the History Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and the BBC, Hopkins is the author of Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More than a Tanker and Spyflights and Overflights: US Strategic Aerial Reconnaissance. He earned a PhD in US and Soviet History from the University of Virginia.

From the Back Cover

Few aviation subjects have been shrouded in more secrecy or been more controversial than that of US cold war aerial reconnaissance.

Primarily undertaken by RB-50s and RB-47s of the Strategic Air Command and by CIA U-2s, other Western nations such as Britain, Sweden, and Taiwan were equally committed to gathering intelligence about the Soviet Union and its allies, and conducted their own overflight missions. In this important new study, former USAF RC-135 pilot Robert S. Hopkins, III, combines newly declassified material with first-hand experience to provide a comprehensive analysis of American, British, and allied missions and overflights and their impact on the early cold war.

In addition to rigorous research and interviews with participants, this book includes a detailed accounting of known overflights as well as incidents and losses, maps depicting mission objectives, an account of what really happened when Soviet fighters attacked US ferrets, and a summary of US aerial reconnaissance aircraft types.

Fully illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, Spy Flights and Overflights challenges conventional wisdom about cold war aerial reconnaissance and is a fitting tribute to those who undertook these perilous missions in the greatest secrecy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hikoki
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1902109503
• ISBN 13: 9781902109503
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200