U-2

U-2, U.S. spy plane used during the 1950s and 1960s. The U-2 was effective because it could fly at extremely high altitudes of 70,000 ft (21,100 m) and photograph military installations on the ground. It became the focus of international attention when a U-2 was shot down while flying over the USSR in 1960, at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR.

See also: Cold War.