Cold-war shootdowns, recce-related losses and incidents

From the end of the Second World War there have been numerous occasions when aircraft military and civil have been attacked and sometimes shot down by Soviet or Chinese forces or their allies. In most cases the aircraft in question were presumed by the attackers to have been spying and in many instances this was true. The following list of incidents, including attacks as well as shoot-downs, is the most comprehensive I have been able to compile, but it is obviously incomplete. I should be pleased to hear from anyone with authoritative additions or amendements by e-mail

Dates are given in British notation (day/month/year). Units are USAAF, USAF, USN unless otherwise stated. Unless noted the incident was a shootdown, or loss of aircraft to unknown cause. Losses of tactical reconnaissance aircraft during wars or confrontations are not noted.

Notes

1 Transport/passenger aircraft forced down

2 Aircraft missing from potentially operational sortie

3 Aircraft attacked by air or ground units but returned safely, if damaged

4 Aircraft crashed during potentially operational sortie

5 Aircraft disappeared

As an indication of the extent of activity towards the end of the cold war, Soviet Lt Gen G Dubrov of Air Defence Forces said in 1991 that NATO intelligence-gathering flights over or around the USSR had dropped from 3,380 in 1989 to 2,730 in 1990. These were distributed roughly 2/3 in the west and 1/3 in the east.

Further information supplied by Charles Beasley, Gene Cartee, Tony Gorst, Mike Hodges, Frank McMeiken, Gerhard Moroff, Lee Russell, Jon Waltho, Johan van der Wei and W.Yip for which many thanks.

For full details of aircrew losses of US military shootdowns go directly to Cold War Shootdown Incidents. For fuller details of USN incidents, including aircraft damaged by AAA fire, go to US Naval Aviation Cold War Incidents. For details of one typical incident go to The Disappearance of 3 Cape Cod.