The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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Secret NOFORN
Chapter 3
shoot down a U-2. Before the program started, Richard Bissell had
estimated that the U-2 would be able to fly over the Soviet Union
with impunity for only about two years. This period was already over,
and the Soviets were working frantically to devise a means to stop
U-2 overflights. From the very beginning, Soviet air defense units had
not only tracked U-2s with radars, but had also made repeated efforts
to shoot them down with antiaircraft weapons and interceptor aircraft.
In 1956 such attempted interceptions had involved primarily MiG-15s
and MiG- l 7s, which could barely reach 55,000 feet. The advent of
MiG- l 9s and MiG-21 s, which could climb even higher, provided a
greater threat for U-2 pilots.
Realistic training for pilots learning to intercept the U-2 became
possible after the Soviets developed a new high-altitude aircraft, the
Mandrake, which was actually an improved version of the
Yakovlev-25 all-weather interceptor. The Mandrake used a high-lift,
low-drag wing design similar to that employed by the U-2, but its
twin engines made it heavier. The Mandrake's operating altitude was
55,000 to 65,000 feet, and its maximum altitude was 69,000, far less
than the 75,000 feet reached by the U-2. Like the U-2, the
Mandrake's wings would not tolerate great stresses, so it could not be
used as an attack aircraft at the high altitudes at which both planes
operated. Between 1957 and 1959, Yakovlev built 15 to 20 of these
aircraft in two versions: the Mandrake-R or YAK-25RM and the
Mandrake-T, sometimes called the YAK-26. These high-altitude air­
craft were used to overfly the Middle East, India, China, and
Pakistan, as well as border regions of NATO nations in Europe during
the late 1950s and early I 960s. It is not believed that Mandrakes ever
attempted to overfly the continental United States."'-'
Beginning in late 1957, the Mandrake served as a practice target
for pilots of high-performance Soviet MiG-19 and MiG-21 intercep­
tors. The Soviet technique that most concerned U-2 pilots was the
"snap up" or power dive and zoom climb. In this maneuver,
ground-based radar operators would direct the interceptor aircraft
along the same flight path as the U-2. When the MiG pilot achieved
the same compass heading as the U-2 flying more than 10,000 feet
above him, he would put his aircraft into a shallow dive to pick up
01
'
"Yakovlev Yak-25RM Mandrake," Jane's Defence Weekly, vol. 3, no. 7, 16 February
1985.
Seeret