Books on Soviet ELINT and Photo Recce
 

Perhaps one that A. Van could help with here. Has anything been published on 'his side' about what one assumes must have been extensive Soviet and Warsaw Pact ferreting and overflights of NATO territory? Could the Mystic-A and -B conceivably have uses other than investigating the ozone layer? I don't recall reports at the time of any incursions or 'crashes', but did they happen? Is there anything covering the activities of SOXMIS in West Germany?

Hello Buster,

A couple of years ago I did my own research in the subject (I was interested in Soviet RORSAT and ELINT birds over the South Atlantic in 1982). Some Russian web pages (in Russian, but readables via Google translator) covers the topic in detail. But I found no books about it.

Best regards,

Thank you, Marcantilan. I'll see what else comes up before delving into GoogleTranslate's version of English!

Hello, Buster:

I tried search in Russian using some key words, but did not find anything substantial. I assume that as far as land of European NATO countries was concerned, such flights were not needed and local interlligence could provide enough information. Also, USSR did not have high altitude (like U-2) aircraft, and high-speed ones (like MiG-25) did not have enough range.

What was indeed of interest were US air carriers. Tu-95 and Tu-16 were actively searching for them in the North Atlantic and Pacific, especially before the era of spy sattelites. I could not find any formal reports, but there are many stories on the Net. E.g., https://www.proza.ru/2010/11/03/1015

Thank you for that, A. Van. Being a bit of a cynic, I had wondered if aircraft like the Myasishchev M-17 and -55 might have had uses other than geophysical research, but perhaps their users couldn't arrange the publishing deals that some of the U-2/TR-2 people managed... But than, as you suggest, by the time they came on the scene satellites were doing most of the work.

(Buster posted about these aircraft first, but I'll leave this for the pics)
There was the Myasishchev M-17 Stratosphera (MYSTIC-A) - and perhaps also the M-55 (MYSTIC-B), although it seems that is still claimed to have been for stratospheric reseacrh.

I'd be fascinated to know more about the operational history of those aircraft.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....61f3842638.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9743aaaf38.jpg

Don't forget the Yak-25RV 'Mandrake' of the late '50s. It was reportedly capable of reaching 65000ft, but that was close to its coffin corner. Operational in the USSR for about 15 years until the advent of the MiG-25R.

Buster 11,

I have researched the activities of the Yak-25RV Mandrake and the Myasishchev M-17 Stratosphera (MYSTIC-A/B) for many years but, without access to the USSR/Russian archives, information is either limited or subject to exaggeration by those with a vested interest. However, there is no evidence whatsoever that either aircraft overflew either West Germany or any other NATO country. In reality both aircraft had insufficient high level performance and had they ventured over the border they would have been vulnerable to interception by either aircraft or missile; both aircraft had fairly short service lives, particularly when compared to the U-2.

Heimdall
The Spyflight Website Yakovlev Yak-25RV. Myasishchev M-17 Stratosphera (Mystic-A/B)

I see no cynism, but only realism in your words ;) But maiden flight of M-17 was in mid 80's and M-55 (as its deep modification) flew in late 80's when Gorby had already become "Mr. Yes" for Uncle Sam and there was no intention to use it for spy purposes. Plus, a good sat network was already in place by that time.

The Russians did attempt to build a copy of the U-2 (Beriev S-13). A fuselage/mock up was completed but the project was cancelled during 1962.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8591c4b9c3.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beriev_S-13