U2 Black Cat Squadron

Chris Pocock

Membership: £30 yearly, £10 Virtual member (meetings streamed vis MS Teams when permitted by speaker, £5 individual event entry.

Doors open at 19:00, registration 19:10 for 19:30 lecture start

This is an epic yet little-known story in the annals of Cold War. As communist China began to secretly develop missiles and nuclear weapons, the CIA and the Chinese Nationalists on Taiwan teamed up to fly the infamous U-2 spy plane over the mainland.

Nationalist pilots flew long and dangerous missions, against ever improving communist air defences. Five of them were shot down, but the Black Cat Squadron helped the US and its allies understand what was going on behind Chairman Mao’s ‘Bamboo Curtain’. Today, the Black Cat tradition continues in Asia, where a USAF U-2 squadron has been monitoring North Korea continuously since 1976.

Chris Pocock is a full-time writer, specialising in aerospace. He was the defence editor of AVIATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS until retiring in mid-2018. He continues to write articles and commentaries on aerospace/defence issues.

The CIA’s chief historian said that Chris is “today’s foremost authority on the U-2 and its development.”

The bowls club bar will be open for refreshments during the evening, parking available on site.

CPD certificates of attendance will be endorsed for CEng, IEng or EngTech