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Cold War Shootdowns

This is a list of aircraft that were shot down while "participating" in the Cold War. I have not included aircraft shot down during other declared on undeclared conflicts, or in war zones.

An interesting detail is that only one aircraft was ever shot down whilst trying to fly deep into Soviet territory: Gary Powers' U-2C on 1 May 1960. There have been some narrow escapes as well, but most of the victims were flying near the borders of the USSR and WarPac countries. In addition, a number of aircraft were shot down over Cuba and China.

9 August 1946
A C-47 transport over Yugoslavia.
19 August 1946
A C-47 transport over Yugoslavia.
8 April 1950
An US PB4Y-2 Privateer, shot down over the Baltic Sea -- or over Latvia, depending on whether you believe the American or the Soviet version. After this, US aircraft were instructed to stay at least 20 miles from the coast.
6 November 1951
An US P2V-3 Neptune of VP-6 , shot down near Vladivostok by MiG-15s.
18 November 1951
A C-47 transport over Hungary.
29 April 1952
A DC-4 of Air France was shot at by two MiG-15s when approaching Berlin. The aircraft was damaged and three passengers wounded.
13 June 1952
A RB-29 over the Sea of Japan, near Hokkaido.
7 October 1952
A RB-29 over the Kurile Islands.
29 November 1952
A China Air Transport C-47 on a mission to pick up agent Li Chun-ying was shot down over China. CAT pilots Snoddy and Schwartz were killed. CIA agents Richard Fectau and John Downey were captured and held in China until 1972/73. Some sources place this incident as happening a year later.
12 January 1953
A B-29 on a leaflet-dropping mission over Manchuria. The 11 crew members were taken prisoner by the Chinese and released in 1955.
18 January 1953
A P2V over Formosa Strait.
10 March 1953
Two USAF F-84Gs based in West Germany crossed into Czechoslovakian airspace, and were intercepted by MiG-15s. One was shot down.
12 March 1953.
A RAF Lincoln was shot down over East Germany.
29 July 1953
An RB-50 over the Sea of Japan. Only one of the 17 crewmembers was rescued, but there are rumours that others were taken prisoners by the USSR.
Summer 1953
It is claimed that a RAF Canberra, possibly a modified B Mk.2, suffered damage during a spy flight over the USSR. This event remains a mystery,
17 August 1953
A T-6 over the Korean demilitarized zone.
27 January 1954
An RB-45 flying over the Yellow Sea with an escort of F-86 Sabres was attacked by eight MiG-15s; one MiG was shot down.
April 1954
An RB-45C operated by the RAF narrowly escaped AAA near Kiev. The mission was cancelled.
8 May 1954
An RB-47 of the 51st SRW flying over the Northern USSR exchanges gunfire with MiG-17s, but gets home safely.
July 1954
A Cathay Pacific DC-4 was shot down by Chinese La-9 fighters near Hainan. 10 killed, 8 survived.
26 July 1954
Two AD Skyraiders, looking for survivors from the above mentioned DC-4, were attacked by two La-9s. Both La-9s were shot down.
4 September 1954
A P2V-5 off the Siberian coast. Of the crew of 10, one was killed.
7 November 1954
An RB-29 over the Sea of Japan, north of Hokkaido, lost with its crew of 13.
19 January 1955
Unknown aircraft, over the Korean demilitarized zone.
5 Februari 1955
Two MiG-15s shot down by USAF F-86 Sabres when they attacked an RB-45 over the Yellow Sea
17 April 1955
An RB-47 near Kamchatka, probably shot down by MiG-17s.
22 June 1955
A P2V-5 Neptune was attacked over the Bering Strait. The USA demanded $724,947; the USSR finally payed half.
27 July 1955
A Lockheed Constellation of El Al was shot down by Bulgarian aircraft. All 40 on board were killed.
17 August 1955
A T-6 over the Korean demilitarized zone.
22 August 1956
A P4M Mercator near Wenchow, China.
10 September 1956
RB-50 over the Sea of Japan.
23 December 1957
A T-33 over Albania.
24 December 1957
An USAF RB-57 over the Black Sea.
February 1958
An RB-57D operated by the Chinese Nationalists was shot down over mainland China.
6 March 1958
A F-86 over North Korea.
27 June 1958
A C-118 over the USSR (Armenia). The crew was later released.
2 September 1958
A C-130A over the USSR (Armenia). This was a "Sun Valley" SIGINT version. 17 people were on board, 9 bodies were returned. The fate of the other crewmembers remains a mystery.
4 July 1959 or 16 June 1959 ?
A P4M of VQ-1, attacked near to Korean peninsula by MiG-15s. Damaged, one wounded crewmember.
October 1959
An RB-57D operated by the Chinese Nationalists was shot down over mainland China.
1 May 1960
The Lockheed U-2 of Gary Powers, shot down by an SA-2 Guideline missile, near Sverdlovsk, USSR.
25 May 1960
A C-47 over East Germany.
1 July 1960
An RB-47H over the Barentz Sea was downed by Vasili Poliakov. John McKone, the navigator and Bruce Olmstead (the co-pilot?) survived. The pilot, Bill Palm was killed, as were the other three crewmembers (the Elint operators).
5 June 1962
A Swedish ELINT DC-3 shot down over the Baltic.
16 June 1962 A Swedish Catalina looking for the DC-3 lost on June the 5th was shot down too.
9 September 1962
A Chinese Nationalist U-2C was shot down over Mainland China.
27 October 1962
An U-2 piloted by Rudolf Anderson, shot down by a SAM over Cuba. Anderson was killed.
17 May 1963
A helicopter over the Korean demilitarized zone.
6 August 1963
An LT over North Korea.
1 November 1963
A Chinese Nationalist U-2C was shot down over Mainland China.
24 January 1964
A T-39 over East Germany.
10 March 1964
A RB-66 over East Germany.
7 July 1964
A Chinese Nationalist U-2C was shot down over Mainland China.
10 January 1965
A Chinese Nationalist U-2C was shot down over Mainland China.
27 April 1965
An ERB-47H was damaged by North Korean MiG-17s. It made an emergency landing at Yokota AB, with two engines out.
September 1965
An RB-57F, operated by Pakistan, damaged by an SA-2 over India.
14 December 1965 (1968?)
An RB-57F shot down by a SAM over the Black Sea, near Odessa. The two crewmembers remained missing. Jay Miller states that this happened in 1968; Robert Jackson that it was in 1965.
1 January 1966
A KA-3B of the USN over South China.
9 September 1967
An U-2C, operated by the ROC, over China.
30 June 1968
A DC-8 over the Kurile islands was forced to land. It was carrying a load of US troops to Vietnam.
March 1969
An U-2C, operated by the ROC, over China.
15 April 1969
An EC-121M over or near North Korea.
17 August 1969
An OH-23 over the Korean demilitarized zone.
21 October 1970
An U-8 over the USSR (Armenia).
14 June 1977
A CH-47 over the Korean demilitarized zone.
20 April 1978
Boeing 707 from Korean Air Lines. Flew over Murmansk while on a Paris-Anchorage flight. Hit by Su-15 interceptors, crash-landed on a frozen lake.
6 September 1983 October
A Boeing 747 of KAL, shot down over Sachalin by a Su-15. All 269 on board were killed.
24 April 1992
Peruvian Su-22s attacked an US C-130. One crewmember was killed, four wounded.
24 February 1996
Two (civilian) US-registered Cessna 337 twin-engined aircraft, operated by Cuban exiles, shot down by Cuban MiG-29s.