Flashes in the Dark Volume 2: USAF Nuclear Espionage in Argentina 1960-1966 - (9781804519363)
Flashes in the Dark Volume 2 continues the story of the US nuclear espionage operations mounted from Argentina beginning with the intensification of Lockheed WU-2A and Martin NB-57B missions from Ezeiza Airport outside Buenos Aires in 1960. Tasked with capturing samples of radioactive particles from the atmosphere these reconnaissance aircraft provided vital intelligence on the progress of French and Soviet nuclear tests.
Later Volume 2 charts the establishment of a permanent US reconnaissance detachment at El Plumerillo Airport in Mendoza in 1966 heralding the arrival of the highly modified Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F to Argentina. Nicknamed ‘tired ducks' by onlooking Argentine Air Force personnel these remarkable aircraft and their crews flew constant missions surveilling the French tests in the South Pacific braving fallout and the hazards of stratospheric flying. Along the way Volume 2 also covers the wider regional context of the Cold War including Argentina's involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as the peculiar events of the Transtage incident.
Drawing on extensive research author Gustavo Marón pieces together the notes of an extraordinary symphony performed for fifteen years in Argentina—without anyone being able to hear it.
Features
- 76 pages
- Over 125 photos and Iluustrations
- Softcover
- Book dimensions are 8.5 x 11.5
Flashes in the Dark Volume 2 continues the story of the US nuclear espionage operations mounted from Argentina beginning with the intensification of Lockheed WU-2A and Martin NB-57B missions from Ezeiza Airport outside Buenos Aires in 1960. Tasked with capturing samples of radioactive particles from the atmosphere these reconnaissance aircraft provided vital intelligence on the progress of French and Soviet nuclear tests.
Later Volume 2 charts the establishment of a permanent US reconnaissance detachment at El Plumerillo Airport in Mendoza in 1966 heralding the arrival of the highly modified Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F to Argentina. Nicknamed ‘tired ducks' by onlooking Argentine Air Force personnel these remarkable aircraft and their crews flew constant missions surveilling the French tests in the South Pacific braving fallout and the hazards of stratospheric flying. Along the way Volume 2 also covers the wider regional context of the Cold War including Argentina's involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as the peculiar events of the Transtage incident.
Drawing on extensive research author Gustavo Marón pieces together the notes of an extraordinary symphony performed for fifteen years in Argentina—without anyone being able to hear it.
