Cold War stories

It’s 1980 and in a darkened operations room located deep in the Norfolk countryside, Fighter Controllers monitoring a bank of radar scopes issue precise instructions into the ears of four US F-5 Tiger pilots. Their mission is to intercept hostile fighters that have intruded into friendly airspace. Or so it appears...

In 1958, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation delivered a prototype, twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, long-range fighter -  a design the US Navy could not ignore: the F-4 Phantom II. It would go on to become the most-produced American supersonic jet fighter in history and an icon of the Cold War. 

In retaliation for the deadly bombing of a West Berlin nightclub in April 1986, US President Ronald Reagan ordered an attack at the heart of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Ten days later, F-111s took off from RAF Lakenheath for what would become the longest combat fighter mission in history.

George Herbert Walker Bush was an aviator in the US Navy, and 41st President of the United States, his experience during the Second World War shaped the wars of the 20th Century.

Patrolled by guards and dogs, illuminated by floodlights and fortified by barbed wire and watchtowers, the Wall divided Berlin for 28 years.

During the Cold War, global super powers dealt with the prospect of devastating nuclear consequences by adopting a strategy of mutually assured destruction. Suggesting that you might be willing to ‘press the nuclear button’ had considerable global consequences

U-2 overflights across the Soviet Union were incredibly dangerous missions. Every flight was at risk of being perceived as an unauthorised invasion of another country’s airspace.