Probably the most famous and most controversial operation of the PVO prior to the downing of Power’s U-2 in May 1960, resulted in the intercept and shootdown of the USAF C-130A-II Hercules serial number 60-528, from the 7406th Support Squadron, over Soviet Armenia, on 2 September 1958. The aircraft – left in bare metal overall but having most of its fin and rear fuselage painted in dayglo orange, as usual at the time – launched from Incirlik AB in Turkey, for a reconnaissance mission along the border with the USSR. It carried six flight crew from the 7406th Squadron and 11 mission specialists of the 6911th Radio Group Mobile. For unknown reasons, it flew off course and into Soviet airspace, where it was intercepted and shot down by two pairs of MiG-17s from the 117th and 168th Interceptor Aviation Regiments. The burning wreckage came down about 55km northwest of Yerevan, killing all 17 crewmembers. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)