U2 Spy Plane - Project NO. 00002

U2 Spy Plane, The U-2 began spying on July 4, 1956. For five years the U-2's cameras took photos of ICBM testing sites and air bases at over 70,000 feet above the most secretive society on earth. The U-2 first proved that there was no bomber gap between the United States and the Soviet Union, as was previously suspected. Finally, we ended snooping on May 1, 1960, when Francis Gary Powers was shot down, arrested, and sent to prison.

There was a massive amount of snooping to be done. Thus, since the U-2 was used for intelligence purposes, the U-2 began not as an Air Force plane, but for the CIA. The U-2 was code named Rainbow, and it cost only $1 million per plane.