Black Cat Squadron
35th Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1961–74 |
Branch | Republic of China Air Force |
Role | Surveillance |
Garrison/HQ | Taoyuan Air Base |
Nickname(s) | Black Cat Squadron |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Lu Xiliang |
Aircraft flown | |
Reconnaissance | Lockheed U-2 |
The Black Cat Squadron (
When the squadron was formed in 1961, Colonel Lu Xiliang (盧錫良) became its first commander and would become its longest-serving squadron commander. Lu was born in Shanghai on December 27, 1923, and completed his training in the US.
During the squadron's 14 years of existence, five U-2s were shot down by PRC air defenses (using S-75 Dvina missiles[2]), with three pilots killed and two captured. Another pilot was killed while performing an operational mission off the Chinese coast, while seven U-2s were lost during training missions, killing six pilots.[3]
A total of 19 U-2s were assigned to the Black Cat Squadron, over fourteen years, although the squadron usually had only two U-2s assigned to it at any one time; sometimes there was just one aircraft.[4]
The intelligence gathered by the Black Cat Squadron, which included evidence of a military build-up on the Sino-Soviet border, may have contributed to the U.S. opening to China during the
Operational missions
The only other U-2 operator than CIA, USAF and
In 1958, ROC and American authorities reached an agreement to create the 35th Squadron, nicknamed the Black Cat Squadron, composed of two U-2Cs at Taoyuan Air Base in northern Taiwan, at an isolated part of the airbase. To create the typical misdirections at the time, the unit was created under the cover of high altitude weather research missions for ROCAF. To the US government, the 35th Squadron and any US CIA/USAF personnel assigned to the unit were known as Detachment H on all documents. But instead of being under normal USAF control, the project was known as Project RAZOR,[5][6] and was run directly by CIA with USAF assistance.
Each of the 35th Squadron's operational missions had to be approved by both the US and the Taiwan/ROC presidents beforehand. To add another layer of security and secrecy to the project, all US military and CIA/government personnel stationed in Taoyuan assigned to Detachment H were issued official documents and ID with false names and cover titles as Lockheed employees/representatives in civilian clothes. The ROCAF pilots and ground support crew would never know their US counterpart's real name and rank/title, or which US government agencies they were dealing with.
26 out of 28 ROC pilots sent to the US completed training between 1959 and 1973, at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.[7] On the night of August 3, 1959, a U-2 on a training mission, out of Laughlin AFB, Texas, piloted by Maj. Mike Hua of ROC Air Force, made a successful unassisted nighttime emergency landing at Cortez, Colorado, that was later known as the "Miracle at Cortez". Major Hua was later awarded the US Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross for saving the top secret aircraft.[8][9][10][11]
In January 1961, the CIA provided the ROC with its first two U-2Cs, and in April the squadron flew its first mission over mainland China. Other countries were also covered from time to time by the 35th Squadron, such as
On September 9, 1962, the first loss occurred when the PRC downed a U-2 near Nanchang; the pilot Chen Huai died in a PRC hospital.[13] The U.S. denied PRC accusations of involvement in the ROC flights, noting that the previous Eisenhower administration had sold the U-2s to ROC. This was a cover story, however as the CIA maintained Detachment H's U-2s and replaced them as necessary, and CIA pilots from Detachment G began using Detachment H's unmarked U-2 for flights over North Vietnam in February 1962.[14]
The demand for intelligence on the Chinese nuclear program grew but so did the number of PRC SAM sites and use of the
After China conducted its third nuclear test on May 9, 1966, the US was eager to obtain information on the Chinese capabilities. To this end, the CIA initiated a program, code named Tabasco, to develop a sensor pod that could be dropped into the Taklamakan Desert, near the Chinese Lop Nur nuclear test site. The pod was intended to deploy an antenna after landing and radio back data to the US SIGINT station at Shulinkou Taiwan. After a year of testing in the US, the pod was ready. Two pilots of the 35th squadron were trained in the dropping of the pod. On May 7, 1967, a ROCAF U-2 (article 383) flown by Spike Chuang took off from Takhli with a sensor pod under each wing.[15] The aircraft successfully released the pods at the target, near the Lop Nur, but no data were received from the pods. This was unfortunate, China conducted a test of its first thermonuclear device in Test No. 6 on 17 June 1967. A second U-2 mission was flown to the area by a Black Cat squadron U-2 flown by Bill Chang on 31 August 1967. This U-2 carried a recorder and an interrogator in an attempt to contact the pods. This mission was unsuccessful, as nothing was heard from the pods. This set the stage for Operation Heavy Tea, conducted by the Black Bat Squadron.[16]
In 1968, the ROC U-2C/F/G fleet was replaced with the newer U-2R. However, with the overwhelming threats from S-75 Dvina missiles and
During his visit to China in 1972, US President Richard Nixon promised the Chinese authorities to cease all reconnaissance missions near and over China, though this was also made practical because US photo satellites by 1972 were able to provide better overhead images without risking losing aircraft and pilots, or provoking international incidents. The last 35th Squadron mission was flown by Sungchou "Mike" Chiu on May 24, 1974.[17]
By the end of ROC's U-2 operations, a total of 19 U-2C/F/G/R aircraft had been operated by the 35th Squadron from 1959 to 1974.[18] The squadron flew a total of about 220 missions,[19] with about half over mainland China, resulting in five aircraft shot down, with three fatalities and two pilots captured; one aircraft lost while performing an operational mission off the Chinese coast, with the pilot killed; and another seven aircraft lost in training with six pilots killed.[18][20] On July 29, 1974, the two remaining U-2R aircraft in ROC possession were flown from Taoyuan Air Base to Edwards AFB, California, US, and turned over to the USAF.[21][22][23][24]
Members after retirement
After his retirement, Col. Lu Xiliang (盧錫良) and his family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1986, where he became an ardent activist for ROCAF POWs' rights, particularly the right of POWs to return to Taiwan to reunite with their families after imprisonment in mainland China. Lu died on December 15, 2008.
In addition to Lu Xiliang, another six former-members of the squadron eventually settled in the US, including Zhuang Renliang (莊人亮), Wang Taiyou (王太佑) in Los Angeles, Yeh Changti in Texas, Hua Xijun (華錫鈞) in Maryland, and the deputy squadron commander Yang Shiju (楊世駒) in Las Vegas.
List of ROC U-2 aircraft lost
- Shot down over mainland China
- September 9, 1962: U-2C N.378 - Major Chen Huai (killed)[25]
- November 1, 1963: U-2C N.355 - Major Yeh Changti (captured, released in 1982), shot down by Yue Zhenghua and his Second Battalion[25]
- July 7, 1964: U-2G N.362 - Lt. Colonel Lee Nanpin (killed), shot down over Fujian by Yue Zhenghua and his Second Battalion[25]
- January 10, 1965: U-2C N.358 - Major Chang Liyi (captured, released in 1982), shot down over Baotou by Wang Lin and his First Battalion[25]
- September 8, 1967: U-2C[26] N.373 - Captain Huang Jungpei (killed), shot down over Jiaxing by Xia Cunfeng and the 14th Battalion, first success by a Chinese-made surface-to-air missile[25]
- Lost due to technical failure during operational missions
- May 16, 1969: model and number unknown - Major Chang Hsieh (killed)[25]
- Lost during training missions
- March 19, 1961: U-2C N.351 - Major Chih Yaohua (killed)
- March 23, 1964: U-2F N.356 - Captain Liang Tehpei (killed)
- October 22, 1965: U-2A N.352 - Major Wang Chengwen (killed)
- February 17, 1966: U-2F N.372 - Captain Wu Tsaishi (killed)
- March 22, 1966: model and number unknown - Captain Fan Hungdi (survived)
- June 21, 1966: U-2C N.384 - Major Yu Chingchang (killed)
- November 24, 1970: U-2R N.057 - Major Huang Chihsien (killed)
See also
References
- ^ "U-2 Operations: Pilots". TaiwanAirPower.org. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ Bergin, Bob (2013), "The Growth of China's Air Defenses: Responding to Covert Overflights, 1949–1974", Studies in Intelligence, 57 (2), archived from the original on January 4, 2014
- ^ "U-2 mission losses". TaiwanAirPower.org. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ "U-2 Operations: Aircraft Assigned". TaiwanAirPower.org. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-12-26. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ "Project RAZOR." Taiwan Air Blog, updated 11 April 2007. Retrieved: 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Project RAZOR." Taiwan Air Blog, updated 15 April 2007. Retrieved: 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Taiwan Air Power, U-2 Page, pilots." Archived 2009-10-02 at the Wayback Machine taiwanairpower.org. Retrieved: 24 February 2010.
- ^ Grazier, Steve. "U-2 pilot will land again Former Air Force major will speak about 1959 landing in Cortez." Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine cortezjournal.com. Retrieved: 14 February 2010.
- ^ "50th Anniversary Night Forced Landing in Cortez, CO (Slideshow/video in both Chinese and English)." Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine hmhfp.info. Retrieved: 14 February 2010.
- ^ Steves, Bob. "There I was..." Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Air Force, February 1989. Retrieved: 14 February 2010.
- ^ "A Miracle At Cortez." Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Air Force Magazine, August 1989. Retrieved: 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Target North Korea." Taiwan Air Blog, updated 23 April 2009. Retrieved: 15 September 2009.
- ^ a b "U2 Operations: Losses." Archived 2009-10-02 at the Wayback Machine Taiwanpower.org, 21 September 2014. Retrieved: 7 December 2015.
- ^ Pedlow and Welzenbach 1992, pp. 222–230.
- ISBN 978-0-7643-2346-1.
- ISBN 978-0-7643-3513-6.
- ^ "The End of an Era." Taiwan Air Blog, 7 April 2006. Retrieved: 14 September 2009.
- ^ a b "U-2 page: Aircraft." Archived 2009-12-26 at the Wayback Machine Taiwan Air Power. Retrieved: 26 December 2009.
- ^ "U-2 page: Missions." Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine Taiwan Air Power. Retrieved: 26 December 2009.
- ^ "U-2 page: Pilot Loses." Archived 2009-10-02 at the Wayback Machine Taiwan Air Power. Retrieved: 26 December 2009.
- ^ "The End of an Era." Taiwan Air Blog, April 7, 2006. Retrieved: 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Thou Shalt Not Fly...Ever." Taiwan Air Power, 1 August 2009. Retrieved: 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Brief History of U-2." Defence International (全球防衛雜誌), Vol. 35 Issue. 5, May 2002, Taiwan, ROC.
- ^ http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20130729/NEWS01/130729465/When--Dragon-Lady--invaded-Cortez- "When ‘Dragon Lady’ invaded Cortez"
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61200-389-4.
- ISBN 978-1-62683-025-7
External links
- Republic of China Armed Forces Museum - Black Cat Squadron Special Exhibition
- The Lost Black Cats
- Black Cat Squadron Archived 2014-11-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Freedom Flight - the true story of U2 pilot Chang-di Yeh Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
- TaiwanAirPower.org The Blackcat Squadron U-2 Operations Archived 2010-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
- General Mike Hua's page, including clips and video of Blackcat Squadron