High-Altitude Spying

It has been about half a month since the United States accused China of sending spy balloons into its airspace and spying on its critical military installations. The US had since downed the alleged spy balloon. Together with it, the US had also shot down three other unknown flying objects. US President Joe Biden on 17 February announced that the three objects downed later were not related to the first alleged spy balloon and were civilian. For the record, the three objects had been flying between the height of 20,000 to 40,000 feet and were a potential threat to civilian air traffic.

A screenshot of the alleged spy balloon.

This article intends to look into precedent high-altitude spying attempts and attempted interceptions of these spy aircraft, be it balloons or planes.

The Downing of a US U-2 Spy Plane over the USSR 

After World War 2 ended in 1945, the US and the USSR sought to gain global dominance.  Thus, the Cold War began earnestly as the former partners in the Allied Forces split along the ideological line.

The US sought ways to look into their adversary's backyard to stay ahead. As the Russians disagreed with a US proposal for a mutual aerial flyover, the US designed a high-altitude spy plane known as the U-2. Nicknamed the "Dragon Lady", the Lockheed Martin-designed aircraft can fly as high as 80,000 feet or 24,000 metres above sea level. 

USAF Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady.  Photo Credit: USAF. 

Operated by the CIA under the guise that the plane belonged to NASA, they thought no Soviet fighters or surface-to-air missiles could reach it. They were wrong. 

On 1 May 1960, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pilot Francis Gary Powers took off in a U-2 from Peshawar, Pakistan and flew into Soviet airspace without permission.  

The Soviet Air Force scrambled SU-9 and MiG-19 interceptors to intercept the U-2 but failed to catch up. They then launched several volleys of S75 surface-to-air missiles (NATO code SA2 Guideline). One of the missiles managed to bring down the plane. Unfortunately for the Soviets, they had also destroyed one of their MiG19, killing the pilot (Pocock, Chris (2000). The U-2 Spyplane: Toward the Unknown – A New History of the Early Years).  

Upon realising the plane was lost, NASA quickly claimed that they had lost a meteorological plane over Russia and that the pilot was dead. The Russians pulled the rug by announcing they had shot down a spy plane and captured the pilot Gary Powers alive. 

The Soviets would return Gary Powers to the US in a captured spy exchange programme (Orlov, Alexander. "The U-2 Program: A Russian Officer Remembers").  

USAF U-2 Downed by Soviet S75 over Cuba 

In 1962, the USSR planned to set up nuclear missile sites in Cuba while propping up Fidel Castro's regime, triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis. The USSR also sent Soviet military units and personnel to protect the setting up of the missile sites. The US Air Force conducted several U-2 spy plane flights over the island nation to photograph the sites and other critical military installations. On one of the flights, Soviet S75 surface-to-air missiles shot down USAF Major Rudolph Anderson's U-2, killing him. 

Major Rudolph Anderson (USAF).  Photo credit: National Museum of USAF.

PLA Downing of RoC U-2 

The US was not the only U-2 operator. The Republic of China Air Force also operates U-2 planes to spy on China and North Vietnam. The RoC Air Force operations had support from the CIA. A total of five planes were shot down by the People's Republic of China forces between 1961 to 1974, with two pilots killed and three captured. 

Indian Air Force MiG25 Spying on Islamabad 

In May 1997, an Indian Air Force MiG25R Foxbat flew over Islamabad to take aerial photographs of their adversary's strategic military installations. Provoking their Pakistani adversary, the pilot announced his departure with a sonic boom.

Pakistani Air Force quickly scrambled their F-16, but the Indian Foxbat had returned to Indian airspace. 

For the record, Indian Air Force uses the same type of plane to perform aerial photography of critical Chinese military installations. 

Defending the Sovereign Airspace 

Defending the sovereignty of a nation's airspace is the primary role of any nation's air force. 

Hence, it is within the rights of these nations to take down any of these foreign threats.

While most air intercepts ended quietly, the defender forcing the intruders out of their airspace, there are times when such interceptions ended in tragedy, be it for the defenders or intruders. 

KAL 902 Tragedy

On 20 April 1978, a Korean Air Line plane from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage in Alaska had inadvertently entered Soviet airspace due to magnetic interference on the plane's compass ("Flight of South Korean Airliner 'Very Puzzling' to U.S. Officials". The New York Times. 22 April 1978). 

A Soviet Air Force SU-15 intercepted the plane. What followed were either misunderstandings or cover-ups, but ended with the Soviet SU-15 firing what possibly was an R-60 short-range air-to-air missile. The exploding missile damaged the plane and forced the plane to crash land over Soviet soil. Two passengers died due to injuries sustained when the missile exploded. 

KAL 007 Tragedy

On 1 September 1983, another Korean Air Line plane, KAL 007, a Boeing 747-230B flying from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage in Alaska had inadvertently flown into Soviet airspace.  

The Soviet Air Force scrambled a SU-15 to intercept the plane after it had flown into Soviet airspace. The ground commander gave the instruction to Soviet pilot, Lt. Colonel Gennadiy Osipovich to destroy the target. All 23 crews and 246 passengers died when the plane disintegrated over international waters. For the record, one of the passengers killed was a Malaysian.  

The Soviet record indicated that the pilot fired the missiles just outside Soviet airspace and that the plane had crashed into international waters. In an attempt probably to cover up their involvement, the Soviet Union had tried to harass the search and rescue operations. They only acknowledged that they shot down the plane after several days, claiming it was a spy plane.

PLA Navy Interception of USN EP3 Aries II Near Hainan

On 1 April 2001, PLA Navy detected a USN EP3 flying within 70 miles of Hainan island. PLA Navy scrambled two J-8 naval fighters to intercept the spy plane. During the aerial maneuvers, one of the J-8 planes flew too close to the EP3 and had its wing clipped off. The pilot, Lt Commander Wang Wei ejected from his stricken aircraft. He was last seen floating in the South China Sea and has since been presumed dead.  

USN EP3 Aries II spy plane.  Photo credit: USN.  

Due to the damage to the plane, the EP3 had to land on Hainan island. The crew and the EP3 spy plane were later returned to the US, most probably after Chinese intelligence scrutinised the stricken plane. 

The Current Crisis

The current crisis over the shooting down of the alleged spy balloon is just another incident in the long list of high-altitude spycraft that had marked our history.  Both sides should clearly know that there would be repercussions in their actions and should not feign a surprise that another party had tried to spy on them, nor feign surprise if their spycraft had been intercepted and destroyed.  Deep inside, it is very likely they understand that the actions taken by their opposite side is the very same actions that they too will make if they are in the same shoes.  

For that, let's hope some cooler heads will prevail.