Cold War blazing skies
February 24, 2008
Last week, strategic bombers Tu-95 caused the most serious incidents since Russia resumed its long-range air patrols: they violated the Japanese airspace and flew twice at low altitude over the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz. The return of these giants of the sky brings back memories of the legendary Cold War oceanic flights, filled with incidents and anecdotes ranging from scratches and collisions in flight to pilots from both sides waving to each other while showing Playboy magazines.
Tu-95MS about to refuel in flight
How it all began
In 1949, once the Cold War started and after the Soviet Union developed the nuclear bomb, the Pentagon prepared a secret study foreseeing that eight years later the US and the USSR would be at war. Under the code-name Dropshot, it was defined that the strategy to follow would be based upon a massive surprise attack, by releasing atomic bombs over the main soviet cities. The aircraft appointed to carry out this task was the B-36, also known as Peacemaker, the first intercontinental bomber capable of delivering thermonuclear weapons.
In those days, the USSR couldn’t have counter-attacked such kind of aggression, as they had no strategic bomber that could match the B-36. Since the late 40s, under Stalin’s command, the main soviet constructors tried to equal the US aircrafts, but failed to provide enough flight range for the payload required. The first aircraft that approached the B-36 was the jet bomber Tupolev Tu-16 but, in spite of its outstanding performance, the great fuel consumption of the first jet engines didn’t allow to achieve the long range required to threat US strategic targets.
Convair B-36 & Tupolev Tu-16
Eventually, in August 1955 the Soviets introduced the bomber that made the US vulnerable and the Dropshot plan obsolete: the Tupolev Tu-95. A huge aircraft powered by 4 turboprop engines with double contra-rotating propellers. Today, the Tu-95 is still the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world, arguably the noisiest. Because of its colossal sizes and engines’ deafening roar, the Tu-95 received a characteristic NATO reporting name: the Bear. Although its flight range was initially about 15,000 km, after the in-flight refuelling was introduced its missions were only restricted to maintenance and crew endurance, sometimes lasting up to 20 hours.
Military rise and first oceanic flights
US response didn’t take long to come and, following Eisenhower’s massive retaliation policy, both superpowers tried to get the edge on an accelerating arms race by ensuring their capacity to destroy the foe and deter any enemy attack. The breaking point of this antagonism came in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union began to build several missile bases in the Caribbean island.
Due to the key role played by the US spy planes during the crisis, allowing them to find out the Soviet facilities in the island as well as tracking the sea transportation of missiles and other materials, the USSR decided to send out analogue long range air patrols to track the aircraft-carriers deployed by the United States.
In January 1963 the USSR Strategic Air Command was assigned its first mission: to intercept the aircraft-carrier USS Enterprise on its way to the Mediterranean. After two failed attempts because of bad weather conditions, on February 23, thanks to the information provided by agents scattered along the Spanish coast and the Strait of Gibraltar, a pair of Tu-95s managed to intercept the USS Forrestal close to the Azores, which was returning home after it had been relieved by the USS Enterprise. It was a great achievement to spot the Forrestal in the middle of the ocean, but it was no lesser exploit to fly along the 14,000 km route drawn up in order to avoid flying over the European NATO countries: taking off from Ukraine, flying straight to the Barents Sea, surrounding the Scandinavian Peninsula and the British Isles [see route].
Tu-95 intercepted by two F-4 while flying over the USS Kitty Hawk
From the shock to the most suicidal routine
After the shock provoked by the first flight of a Tu-95 over an American aircraft-carrier, the US and its NATO allies reinforced their bases in Iceland and other Northern European countries with a permanent deployment of radars and F-102 jet fighters, on duty 24h a day in order to intercept any soviet airplane in a matter of minutes. As the soviet surveillance flights became more frequent, the US interest in the Russian bombers and their equipment did also grew. Thus, the cat-and-mouse game of the interceptions became a daily routine, as well as the risky manoeuvres, since it was common to fly very close to each other - within a few meters or even centimetres - in order to take pictures as detailed as possible. Furthermore, to the US commanding officers it was crucial to ensure that every single surveillance flight was intercepted - although it was not always the case - and photographed; otherwise it could be assumed that their warships had been at risk. Sometimes the aircrafts were so close to each other that the Tu-95 crew could see face to face the American pilots and wave to them.
Tail guns faced upwards was a common sign of no hostility
Nevertheless, it wasn’t all about comradeship… the duels between pilots to test their nerves of steel sometimes ended with scratches or even collisions between aircrafts. In this picture we can see the damaged wing of a Tu-16 after had been hit by the rear flaps of a Phantom. If the fuel tank placed inside the wing had been damaged, the crew had any other choice but to eject, condemned to a certain death in the ocean.
The first casualties
Although the USSR lost their first surveillance aircraft in July 1964, when a Tu-16 crashed into the Sea of Japan, it was the second accident the one that marked the soviet pilots for life:
In May 1968 the aircraft-carrier USS Essex and its fleet were in the Norwegian Sea. The strategic impact of this presence to the USSR was similar to having a column of tanks in the outskirts of Moscow. It was such a threat that the surveillance planes were ordered to keep the USS Essex located all the time with periodical flights, every 4 hours. In spite of this continuous tracking, on May 25 the contact was lost.
The pilot chosen to spot the Essex was the Lieutenant Colonel Alexandr Plyiev; an ace pilot who had taught his fellow pilots how to fight and fly at low altitude to avoid being detected by enemy radars. He used to fly so close to the water that he was widely known for returning to the base with his cockpit impregnated with saltpeter.
Plyiev didn’t let down his command and found the US aircraft-carrier, coming out of the blue as he wasn’t detected. However, once he reported about the coordinates to the soviet fleet deployed in the area, after one of his low passes the plane crashed into the sea. Although it was told by the Soviets that Plyiev may have crashed after trying to dodge an American helicopter, the official version provided by the US Navy - the only witness to the accident - was that the aircraft crashed because one of its wings hit the water.
The following video - that has been recently declassified - shows the previous and subsequent moments to the accident. We can see how Plyiev’s Tu-16 flies by the aircraft-carrier at about 500 km/h and just 15 meters above the water, to finally crash when it was about to turn back. After a while, a second Tu-16 comes up trying to find out what happened to Plyiev:
Having fun at 30.000 feet
After Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 and called the Soviet Union “the evil empire”, a new arms race began between both superpowers. One of the most significant steps taken by the USSR was to deploy Tu-95MS bombers with nuclear warheads on-board flying along the coast of North America constantly.
As usual, the US jet fighters were scrambled to intercept the soviet bombers. In spite of being under a great pressure, the pilots managed to find some time to relax and fraternize with the enemy. From that period there are many well known anecdotes about US and Canadian pilots showing erotic magazines and beverages to the Russians, in order to make fun about communist moral principles.
The only pictures I found belong to a 1982 footage, where an F-15 pilot holds a Playboy magazine against the cockpit while flying along the coast of Alaska. In a close up we can see Richard Ellis, a former pilot who took part in the 80s interceptions, during an interview for a Russian documentary film:
In this post we just have seen some of the stories that occurred during the Cold War. The incidents and casualties list is as long as it is obscure. To throw some light on this topic, Soviet Russia will narrate the most interesting Cold War stories from time to time.
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18 Responses to “Cold War blazing skies”
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I was on the Essex at this time and remember the captain calling for “Air Defense, Air Denfense” when the soviet plane showed on radar….that’s how we knew it was coming….they would man the guns for practice mostly….I remember the scene just like it was in the film….However we were the first to the scene of the crash and picked up a torso, and some other body parts…I was told their was a brief case also pulled out of the wreckage area…a day or two later, we stopped somewhere in the north Atlantic and met up with a Russian destroyer…we lowered one of our small boats down, after putting the body parts in it and took them over to the Russians…We had a moment of silence for the dead, we saluted them and they saluted us….we did not give them the briefcasee (if there really was one)….you have to realize, this was the height of the cold war….we were constantly watched by spy ships diguised as soviet fishing vessels….to meet a soviet ship in the open ocean at this time was totalty against the grain of our training….course giving them back their dead was more important than our silent war…just thought you’d like know…
Mr.English, thank you very much for your kind comment. It’s been just thrilling to read your words. I’ll write to you immidiately because I have some more footage that I’m sure you would like to watch… including when the bodies were transfered and some US planes flew over the russian warship as a tribute to their fallen pilots.
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On the subject of TU-95s and the Cold War, a Historical Fiction novel was recently published about the defection of the crew of a TU-95 BEAR D from the USSR to Canada, on August 4th, 1976. The title is “BEAR: Flight to Liberty” by Miguel Vargas-Caba, and it’s available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and at several other booksellers all over the world. According to the reviewers in the website, it’s in the same line of Tom Clancy’s military thrillers, but from the Russian point of view…
Mikhail, thanks for your comment. I didn’t know about this book… wishing to take a look on it. Its plot reminded me of Viktor Belenko, the MiG-25 pilot who deserted and flew to Japan in 1976.
Sir,
Like Mr. English, I was aboard. The accounting of Mr. English is correct.
Much was published in David Winkler’s “Cold War at Sea” US Naval Institute Press, 1999(?).
Other accounts regarding possible survivors were not correct. Only pieces of the aviators were found.
I was beside the aircraft crane when the stretcher carrying the remains was hoisted aboard.
Essex’s Operations Officer, CDR Ed R. Day was aboard the motor whaleboat to transfer the remains.
Sir, it’s been 40 years. Thankfully, this story is coming to light. So many other stories remain untold.
I found your blog via Google while searching for fly fishing federation and your post regarding War blazing skies · Soviet Russia looks very interesting to me. Just wanted to drop a note to let you know what a great site you have. It is a great resource and a great place to drop by.
Good site I “Stumbledupon” it today and gave it a stumble for you.. looking forward to seeing what else you have..later
the curtian should go back up and all of you criminal ruskiz get back behind it and eat beets!
all generations are jacked at this point. young are worthless, old are stuck wanting to back to the bread line days so bad they allow putin to run amok. the middle gen are all freakin stupid nutscabs. porn lovers, spammers, mafia, wreched politicians, con artists
yes…i’m saying ya suck
jenarnold_42@hotmail.com
Sir,
I am the curator of a developing Cold War Gallery, an annex to the main National Museum of the United States Navy and am interested in the footage mentioned in the second comment as well as the footage I saw of the TU-16 posted. I think it would make an excellent addition in several areas of our exhibit. Might we be able to obtain a copy, DVD perhaps, of it? Thank you very much and will look forward to your response.
V/R
William Hill
Mr. Hill, I am able to provide you with copies of that specific footage, plus many more that I have in my collection. They all come from Russian sources and most deal with the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. How can I contact you?
Mr.Hill,
I am glad to see that Mr.Kurchatov could offer you much more recordings besides the ones mentioned in this article.
However, let me inform you that all footage I told about was shown in a Russian documentary film called ‘Битва над океаном’ (Battle over the ocean) produced by Крылья России. Here you have a link to an overview of this film (Russian).
The footage belonging to the TU-16 accident was shot from the aircraft-carrier USS Essex and was obtained from The National Archives in Washington.
In case you want to get in touch with Mr.Kurchatov but prefer to keep your contact details private, don’t hesitate to ask me to forward them. And if you still interested in the Russian documentary film ‘Battle over the ocean’ you can download it from the following Rapidshare links: 1, 2 , 3.
“Битва над Океаном” is the same film I’m offering Mr. Hill, already in DVD form, as he requested. The author of “BEAR: Flight to Liberty” already contacted Mr. Hill to offer him copies of the Soviet/Russian films in the collection. We are in the process of preparing a list of Cold War films and photographs to send to Mr. Hill. Most of those photos have to do with the TU-95 Bear crews and their activities over the world’s oceans during the CW.
Mr. English, I’m just curious: when the soviet aircraft crashed, did the Essex have any helicopters aboard, and if so was one launched for a rescue?
Mr. Samatoshi, although unlike Mr. English and Mr. Bill I was not aboard the Essex when the accident with the Tu-16 Badger of Lt. Col. Pliyev happened, after watching once again the video “Battle over the Ocean” I feel I can answer your question. Yes, an SH-3H ‘Sea King’ helicopter is seen flying over the accident location in search of survivors. None was found, only body parts and other remains.
On the other hand, quoting Mr. English’s comment: “I was told their was a brief case also pulled out of the wreckage area…a day or two later, we stopped somewhere in the north Atlantic and met up with a Russian destroyer…we lowered one of our small boats down, after putting the body parts in it and took them over to the Russians…We had a moment of silence for the dead, we saluted them and they saluted us….we did not give them the briefcasee (if there really was one)…”
In the video it is not only affirmed that a briefcase was found, BUT IT CAN BE SEEN BEING DELIVERED TO THE CREW OF THE SOVIET VESSEL THAT CAME TO PICK UP THE REMAINS. The destroyer of the Northern Fleet ‘Soznatel’nyy’ (Conscientious), number 311, met the boat from the Essex that made the transfer.
I hope this answer satisfied your curiosity.
Most definately - thank you.
In the video on youtube, I had not seen a helicopter, and was concerned that they might not have launched one for a rescue.
Death to the commies!!!
Sir,
You say in the above article “…cockpit impregnated with saltpeter.” Clearly you made an gross error and intended to say “salt water” and not “saltpeter”.
So as to refresh your memory, “saltpeter” is a common name for potassium nitrate, a nitrogen compound used in black powder (and not found in water but on land).