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Acts of aggression were subtle, not overt. Instead of direct military attacks countries sought to undermine each other through various means. The US supplied weapons to the Taliban during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, for example. The communists supported Fidel Castro. There was only rarely any direct military action, such as when the Soviets shot down a passenger plane, or captured one of our U2 flights.
Francis Gary Powers was the pilot of the Lockheed U2 spy plane that was shot down by the former USSR with a surface to air missile (SAM) in 1960. After lengthy negotiations, a prisoner exchange was made returning Powers to the United States. [JMH]
it gave the Soviets proof we were spying on them
Start of Communist fears was when USA effectively ended WW2 by dropping worlds most powerful bomb on Japan. This was the atomic bomb, which the USSR was yet to fully utilise. examples - Berlin blockade, U2 incident, Cuban missile crisis USSR bluff on weapons Americans had more + superior missiles Reasons it didnt esculate - was more a game of 'brinksmanship', meaning the two main superpowers (USA and USSR) were simply trying to scare the other country into laying down its weapons, which would bring about greater peace and eliminate the threat of nuclear war. However, the reason it at first esculated into a 'COld War' is that neither side was willing to back down, and so the atmosphere and actions became more extreme. It took the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963 to make both countries realise their could be no winner. A telephone hotlink was established between Washington and Moscow, and agreements such as SALT followed. NOOBU CONTRIBUTION However, the most impotant factor is the new leadership of russia. Gorbachev was more willing to have diplomatic ventures with USA rather than the previous leaders. Gorbachev also introduced 2 reforms which may seem contentious to the communist hardliners. Perestroika and Glasnost deteriorated the economy of russia, this resulted in less spending in military armaments.
A success in that US airpower (Air Force, Navy, and Marine) were able to test their aircraft (F100, F101, F102, F104, F105, F4, F8, A1, A4, A6, A7, U2, SR71, B57, B52, etc.), tactics, and strategy. Experience that would pay off during next bombing campaigns. A failure in that the war continued on.