document updated 16 years ago, on Jan 4, 2010
- 1960, best aircraft altitude for evasion
Near the end of the 1950's, it was thought that ultra-high-altitude aircraft would be the best way to avoid enemy defenses. The onset of missile technology, however, made it clear that evading countermeasures would no longer work. Instead, the strategy suddenly changed to evading detection, rather than interception, by flying extremely low, rather than extremely high.