The U-2 "Dragon Lady" high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is a very important means of reconnaissance in the US Air Force, and to this day, the US Air Force still has nearly 30 U-2S reconnaissance aircraft active in the world to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions around the world. What is less well known is that the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft initially served the CIA and was not under the control of the U.S. Air Force, and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was not officially assigned to the U.S. Air Force until 1976, before which the selection of U-2 pilots was decided by the CIA, and the first U-2 pilots were CIA agents rather than U.S. Air Force pilots.
◎ U-2 pilots need to inhale pure oxygen for an hour before taking off
Since they are "flying agents" selected by the CIA, the rules and regulations must be according to the CIA, and the US Air Force cannot control them. As a result, the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft pilots of the CIA period were not "baby bumps" like the pilots of the US Air Force, but had to be prepared for going back before each mission.
The wreckage of a U-2 reconnaissance plane shot down in Cuba in 1960 killed the pilot
At that time, the CIA's U-2 reconnaissance aircraft carried out highly classified reconnaissance missions, and the US Air Force ground crew responsible for maintaining the U-2 with camera film could not be touched, which showed the high degree of secrecy. In order to prevent the pilots from being captured and leaking secrets after the U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down, the CIA prepared many optional ways for the agents who drove the U-2 to die.
◎ Life-saving equipment for u-2 pilots
The first, of course, is the outcome that the CIA would most like to see, that is, the pilot and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft were destroyed by enemy anti-aircraft fire or interceptors, so that the aircraft would not have to worry about leaking secrets. The second is the self-destruct device on the starter, the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft comes with a one-button self-destruct device, the pilot can start the switch to self-destruct to ensure that the photographic equipment and film do not fall into the hands of the enemy, there are data showing that the u-2 self-destruct device is with a time delay device, but it seems that no pilot has used this function.
◎ U-2 and SR-71 pilots carry silent pistols
The third is to commit suicide using a whispered pistol in a life-saving bag, which is a relatively painful way to die. The fourth is suicide, except that the tool is changed from a pistol to a knife, which is an alternative self-cutting tool when the pistol is lost or unusable, and the pistol is carried by the pilot, and the knife is stored in the lifebag under the seat.
U-2 pilot Bowles (right) shot down while reconnoitring the Soviet Union
As CIA agents, pilots of u-2s also have to master a method of death for their own agents — suicide by taking poison. At first, the CIA distributed u-2 pilots with a highly toxic pill similar to the potassium cyanide pill carried by the CIA agent, stored in a box in the cockpit of the U-2, and when taken out of the mouth in a critical moment, the pill could be chewed into the mouth and died on the spot. But then some CIA officials pointed out that if the potassium cyanide pill ruptured due to air current bumps during the flight, the pilot could accidentally die because of the highly toxic potassium cyanide powder scattered everywhere, which was very unsafe.
◎ The Soviet Union displays the wreckage of captured U-2 reconnaissance aircraft
Then in 1960, the CIA prepared a special coin for u-2 pilots on a mission over Eastern Europe with a poison needle stained with neurotoxins, and if necessary, the pilot could take out the needle and prick himself quickly. The suicide coin and poison needle were never used in practice and were shot down in 1960 while Bowers flew over the Soviet Union in a U-2, and the Soviets found them in their belongings after capturing Bowles. Subsequently, the CIA banned the needle on the grounds that the CIA believed that if a pilot was forced to use the needle to commit suicide after being captured, no pilot would be willing to fly the U-2.
It is worth mentioning that although Bowers successfully returned to the United States in 1962 as a prisoner of war exchange, he was permanently dismissed by the CIA on charges of treason after returning to China, and Bowers was later killed in a helicopter accident.