Spyplane

by Norman Polmar

This book discusses the requirement for and the design, development, and operation of the U-2, from 1954 when the design began, to the current overflights of the Balkans and Iraq. It includes extensive discussions of U-2 overflights of hostile countries (USSR, China, North Korea, North Vietnam), the Francis Gary Powers incident, and NASA's use of the U-2. It contains material from declassfied CIA documents. The inner workings and heavily censored history of Lockheed's dynamic U-2 spyplane are revealed in this informative design, development and operational history from 1954.