1998 (2) Winter

A "Hot" Front in the Cold War: The U-2 Program—A Russian Officer Remembers

By Alexander Orlov

Editor’s Note: The following article was excerpted from a longer study written by a retired Soviet colonel who spent most of his 46-year military career with the former USSR’s Air Defense Forces. Col. Alexander Orlov personally participated in many of the events described below. The narrative and the views expressed herein reflect his own recollections and analyses of Soviet responses to the US U-2 program during 1956-1960, the period when U-2 aircraft were overflying the USSR. Unfootnoted facts and quotes in this article come largely from the colonel’s memory. Colonel Orlov’s statements of fact and analysis do not necessarily reflect the official views of any government, past or present, including those of Russia and the former Soviet Union as well as the government of the United States.

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