Though aware of its extreme danger—penetrating Soviet airspace could trigger war—Eisenhower desperately wanted the information the U-2 spy plane could provide. He insisted the plane be funded off the books and that no active military personnel be used as pilots; the CIA would run the show. Within a month the highly secret design project, code-named Aquatone, was under way. By August 1955 the U-2 aircraft was ready for its first test flight. A new chapter in the secret war against the USSR was about to open.
