60 years ago, in the sky over the Sverdlovsk region, the calculation of the 185th guards anti-aircraft missile regiment was shot down by the American reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed U-2, which was piloted by Francis Gary Powers. 

Soviet rocket S-75 damaged the wing, engine and tail of the aircraft. U-2 began to lose height, literally falling apart. The pilot decided not to use a catapult and jumped out of the plane with a parachute. After landing, Powers was delayed.

The wreckage of the American machine was shown to the general public as irrefutable evidence of the United States spying activity against the Soviet Union.

In mid-August 1960, the military collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced an American pilot to 10 years in prison, but in February 1962 Powers was exchanged for Soviet intelligence officer Rudolf Abel. 

The incident with U-2 had an extremely negative impact on Soviet-American relations, which became warmer only in the late 1960s. After the Powers incident, the USSR withdrew the invitation to visit Moscow, sent to US President Dwight Eisenhower. A meeting between him and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was scheduled for May 1960.

“Having shot down Powers’s plane, the Soviet Union showed the whole world that, firstly, it possesses weapons that can protect its borders, cities, important military installations and will not allow foreign spies to fly at home. Secondly, our country has clearly demonstrated the lies and double standards of the West, ”military historian Alexander Mikhailov said in a commentary on RT.

The strike on U-2 was the first successful interception of an American spy plane, which was carried out by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners. The baptism of fire on May 1, 1960 was received by the then-modern C-75 complex, the range of which, depending on the modification, could exceed 30 km.

Deserved Glory

The story of the destruction of an enemy reconnaissance aircraft began with the fact that in the early morning of May 1, 1960, US Air Force Senior Lieutenant Francis Gary Powers took to the skies from Peshawar Air Force Base (Pakistan). His task included photographing important strategic objects of the USSR. Having received the strictest instructions to maintain a radio silence regime, Powers intended to land at the Bodø airfield in Norway, flying, in particular, over the territory of Kazakhstan and the Arkhangelsk region, where the nuclear missile infrastructure of the Soviet Union was located.

  • US reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed U-2
  • © US Air Force

Although the movement of the U-2 was monitored by the radar stations of the USSR army, it was impossible to shoot down an airplane over Central Asia due to the lack of appropriate air defense systems and the absence of high-altitude fighters. The American aircraft was able to climb to a height of 24 km, which was unattainable at that time for almost all the air defense systems of the USSR.

“In addition to the S-75, the U-2 could only be shot down with anti-aircraft fire from the S-25 system that defended Moscow. Soviet aviation was often powerless. Of course, fighters rose to intercept American reconnaissance aircraft, but there was no chance of defeat if the enemy flew at maximum altitude, ”retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok told RT.

According to experts, the USSR was able to completely solve the problem of intercepting spy planes with the start of large-scale deployment of the S-75, and then other more advanced air defense systems. At that time, the Soviet anti-aircraft gunners retired three missiles (now two) for one target. In the absence of interference with electronic equipment, the probability of defeating an enemy aircraft with an S-75 calculation was 60–80%, and in conditions of strong interference, it was 50–60%.

In a RT commentary, the founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev noted that the appearance of the S-75 in service with the Soviet army opened a new era in the development of the air defense forces of our country. The complex was reliable, relatively simple to operate and inexpensive to manufacture weapons.

The combat effectiveness of the S-75 was proved not only in the sky over Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), but also in the Vietnam War. In battles with US aviation, the calculations of Soviet systems successfully shot down American planes. Until the end of 1965, North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunners, with the support of specialists from the USSR Armed Forces, destroyed 93 American vehicles.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it was in Vietnam that the world's first combat use of air defense systems against supersonic fighter-bombers took place.

On July 24, 1965, the divisions of the first anti-aircraft missile regiment of the Vietnamese People’s Army shot down three McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II aircraft with four missiles fired from the S-75.

“The S-75 has earned well-deserved fame as one of the best air defense systems. His military career began with an attack on Powers’s plane and has not ended yet - some states continue to operate modernized versions of the Soviet complex, ”Kornev emphasized.

Necessary conclusions

According to experts, an episode of “friendly fire” is often in the shadow of the story of Powers’s interception. Then, during the hunt for U-2, three Soviet aircraft that were in the air at that moment fell into the sight of S-75 calculations: two MiG-19s and one Su-9. Two pilots managed to get out of the attack, and the third pilot, Lieutenant Sergey Safronov, died.

“It was a fatal accident, due primarily to a lack of experience in the interaction of air defense forces and means. This skill simply had nowhere to come from. On May 1, in the heat of battle, the anti-aircraft gunners did not understand whether the intruder plane had been destroyed at all, and did not know that there were three more Soviet aircraft in the sky, ”said Kornev.

  • Exhibition of Items and Reconnaissance Equipment for a Lockheed U-2 Downed Scout Aircraft
  • RIA News

As explained by Mikhail Khodarenok, the calculations of the S-75 near Sverdlovsk acted in an extremely tense atmosphere. According to him, on May 1, when Powers intercepted an aircraft, anti-aircraft gunners fired much more missiles than were required to destroy an enemy aircraft.

“The problem was not in the S-75, but in the absence of a well-organized organization of combat work ... The Soviet air defense system then took only the first steps, and mistakes were inevitable,” Khodarenok said.

According to the expert, the USSR Air Defense Command made the necessary conclusions from the incident with U-2. Interrogation and response equipment appeared on Soviet aircraft, and deliveries of automated control systems (ACS) began to air defense troops, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the air defense’s combat work. Soviet aircraft no longer became victims of "friendly fire."

As for the United States, according to Alexander Mikhailov, the interception of Powers’s plane was sobered up by the US military-political leadership - American intelligence aircraft no longer allowed themselves flights over the territory of the USSR.  

“Until 1960, US aircraft successfully completed more than 20 reconnaissance flights over the central and northern regions of the USSR. For example, on July 4, 1956, U-2 flew across the Baltic Sea over Leningrad and Moscow. Moreover, this flight went unnoticed by air defense systems. Of course, this state of affairs could not be left unpunished, ”Mikhailov emphasized.

According to the expert, the CIA, which oversaw the aerial photography of the nuclear missile infrastructure of the USSR, did not assume that on May 1, 1960, the Soviet arsenal would have an effective weapon to counter the flights of their reconnaissance aircraft.

“The Americans were unaware of the capabilities of the new Soviet missile and the S-75 complex. What happened in the sky over Sverdlovsk was a very unpleasant surprise for them. And our country has demonstrated that it is capable of shooting down the latest reconnaissance aircraft of Western countries, and at very different heights, ”Mikhailov concluded.