In July 1960, at the height of Cold War tensions, a U.S. Air Force RB-47H Stratojet lifted off from RAF Brize Norton under Strategic Air Command orders. Its mission? A classified reconnaissance flight to map Soviet radar and air defence networks along the Kola Peninsula.
Flying high above the Barents Sea, the six-man crew recorded the signals of Soviet radar sites guarding the USSR’s northern frontier. But as the aircraft neared the edge of Soviet airspace, radar operators detected the intruder. Two supersonic MiG-19 interceptors scrambled from Kilp-Yavr air base near Murmansk to hunt down and intercept.
What followed was a tense encounter over the Arctic Circle — a chase that ended in cannon fire, wreckage, and international outrage. Of the six men aboard, only two survived, later imprisoned and interrogated by the KGB for seven long months.
Coming just two months after the U-2 incident involving Gary Powers, the shootdown of the RB-47 only deepened the rift between Washington and Moscow.
Inspired by the novel “Little Toy Dog” and months of work, this documentary aims to be highly accurate, with detailed reconstruction and depiction of the events which occurred 65 years ago. This is the story of the 1960 Kola shootdown.
00:00 Intro
02:17 Chapter 1 – The Kola Peninsula
06:47 Chapter 2 – ELINT Flights
08:48 Chapter 3 – The RB-47H
14:34 Chapter 4 – The Mig-19
20:02 Chapter 5 – July 1st – Startup, Taxi and Takeoff
25:54 Chapter 5.1 – Air to Air Refueling over Norway
29:15 Chapter 5.2 Scramble!
32:26 Chapter 5.3 The Shootdown
39:33 Chapter 6 The aftermath
45:40 Outro and Credits
Credit to : Black Box Files