“Francis Gary Powers performed his duty in a very dangerous mission and he performed it well, and I think I know more about that than some of his detractors and critics know, and I am glad to say that to him tonight.”
CIA Director Allen Dulles
(March 1964)
February 10 2025 — At 8:52 am on February 10 1962, American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged in a spy swap for Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a senior KGB spy at the now famous Glienicke Bridge. American student Frederic Pryor was also released at the same time. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
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“Soviet protests were one thing, any loss of confidence by our own people would be quite another.”
President Dwight Eisenhower
UPDATE (February 10, 2025) — The first operational use of a U-2 took place on June 20 1956, when Carl K. Overstreet flew a U-2 equipped with an A-2 camera over Poland and East Germany.
On July 4, 1956, James J. Haggerty conducted the first successful overflight of the Soviet Union, including Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
During the three-week period of 20 June to 10 July 1956, U-2s made five overflights over the Soviet Union. Those few flights immediately confirmed the hopes and fears of Eisenhower.
On one hand, the collected intelligence was priceless. Although the Air Force had claimed that the Soviet Union possessed almost 100 of the new Myasishchev-4 (Bison) heavy bombers, U-2 photography proved this assertion wrong.
The ‘Bombers Gap Myth’ was busted. Thus, Eisenhower was able to deny Air Force requests for additional B-52 bombers to “catch up” to the Soviets.
There was also very bad news. Before these flights over the Soviet Union, the CIA believed that their aircraft would not be detected. They did not expect this advantage to last long.
They estimated that the Soviets would need about 12 to 18 months to develop effective countermeasures against the U-2.
These expectations were entirely incorrect. The U2 flights were not only detected, they were precisely tracked over large sections of their itineraries.
President Eisenhower had “lost enthusiasm” for the U-2 activity. The consequences of an incident could be extremely grave, both internationally and domestically.
As the president was well aware, if the United States were on the receiving end of a Soviet overflight operation, “the reaction would be drastic.”
And he knew that the American public would be shocked to learn that their country had violated international law.
“Soviet protests were one thing, any loss of confidence by our own people would be quite another.”
The U-2’s ability to fly at extreme altitudes (above 20 km) initially kept it out of reach of Soviet air defenses, allowing it to carry out missions with relative safety — until the 1960 downing of a U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers.
The internationally recognized boundary of outer space, known as the Kármán Line, is at 100 kilometers above sea level.
According to international law, as outlined in the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, a nation’s airspace is considered an extension of its territorial sovereignty.
Unauthorized overflights are prohibited unless explicit permission is granted. Thus, the U-2 reconnaissance flights conducted by the United States during the Cold War clearly violated international law.
Under pressure from General Thomas S. Power, President Eisenhower reluctantly approved one final CIA U-2 flight to resolve the ICBM issue. It was one big mistake. And the rest is History.
END of UPDATE
“Eisenhower had accepted the assertions of the CIA that the pilot could not survive if the U-2 were hit by a missile at high altitude. Why CIA director Allen Dulles and Richard Bissell, second in charge at the CIA, would make such an assertion to the president is difficult to understand.”
LLOYD R. “DICK” LEAVITT
Lieutenant General, USAF
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel was an English-born KGB man who had been caught spying in New York in 1957.
In an unusual move, the CIA published its own report into Powers’s conduct, saying he acted honourably throughout – and entirely in accordance with the instructions given to him.
After his return, Powers worked for Lockheed as a test pilot from 1963 to 1970.
In 1970, he wrote a book titled “Operation Overflight”, which led to his termination from Lockheed at the request of the CIA.
“He then became an airborne traffic reporter for radio station KGIL in the San Fernando Valley, and was known for his unique sign off “Gary Powers, KGIL skywatch” when he finished his report.
He was then hired by Los Angeles television station KNBC to pilot their “telecopter,” a helicopter equipped with externally mounted 360 degree cameras.
Powers died, aged 47, on August 1, 1977 when, upon his return from covering brush fires in Santa Barbara county, his helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed just a few miles from Burbank Airport where he was based.
KNBC cameraman George Spears was also killed in the incident. [The 1962 Spy Exchange of Powers for Abel]
“Many have wondered or speculated on how an experienced pilot such as Powers could have allowed the aircraft to run out of fuel.”
U2 Spyplane – Shotdown Francis Gary Powers
Capture Of Soviet Spy Col Rudolph Abel 1957
James Donovan — You have been charged with three counts and nineteen overt acts. Conspiracy to transmit United States defence and atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, conspiracy to gather secrets, and failing to register as a foreign agent.
Rudolf Abel — Do many foreign agents register?
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Bridge of Spies — Official Trailer
A dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of a series of historic events, BRIDGE OF SPIES tells the story of James Donovan (Hanks), a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the centre of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible task to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot.
Screenwriters Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen have woven this remarkable experience in Donovan’s life into a story inspired by true events that captures the essence of a man who risked everything and vividly brings his personal journey to life.
REFERENCES
Gary Powers: The U-2 spy pilot the US did not love — BBC News
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On This Day — U2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers Exchanged in Spy Swap for KGB Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (February 10 1962)
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