First employed in the Far East over North Vietnam and North Korea, American military intelligence quickly realized the SR-71 'Blackbird's' potential value over European targets. In 1976, SR-71 Detachment 4 commenced operations from the RAF base at Middenhall in the UK. Its mission was to monitor Warsaw Pact troop movements along the Iron Curtain and photograph the various ports that were home to the Soviet Union's nuclear submarine fleet. Despite the best efforts of the USSR, they were never able to intercept a 'Blackbird' in flight.
- ISBN10 1846034183
- ISBN13 9781846034183
- Publish Date 10 August 2009
- Publish Status Transferred
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Imprint Osprey Publishing
- Format Paperback
- Pages 96
- Language English