Black Bat Squadron

Black Bat Squadron (Chinese: 黑蝙蝠中隊; pinyin: hēi biānfú zhōngduì), formally the 34th Squadron, was a squadron of CIA reconnaissance plane pilots and crew based in Taiwan during the Cold War. Citizens of the Republic of China flew missions over mainland China controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to drop agents and gather military signal intelligence around military sites. The 34th Squadron was formed in 1953 and flew its last operational mission in 1967. The squadron's emblem was a bat and seven stars surrounded by a red ring. The bat & stars allude to night operations. The bat's wing piercing the "red circle" intentionally and the position of the stars representing the numbers 3 & 4 for its formal name; the 34th Squadron of the ROC Air Force. The unit's aircraft included the Boeing B-17G, Douglas A-26C/B-26C Invader, 7 Lockheed RB-69A, Douglas C-54, 11 Fairchild C-123B/K Provider, Lockheed C-130E Hercules, and 3 "black" Lockheed P-3A Orion (149669, 149673, 149678). The P-3As and RB-69As were armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for self-defense. 34th Squadron specialized in very low level air space penetration (100–200 meters altitude) to hug the ground in order to evade enemy radars and fighter interceptions. Later when operating P-3A, its main mission was flying in international water, 40 miles outside of mainland China, to collect signals intelligence. Overall, from 1953 to 1967, 34th Squadron flew 838 missions, 148 Black Bat crew members - With two-thirds of the Squadron - went down with 15 aircraft. A few were captured after being shot down and later released in Hong Kong. The squadron's last operational mission was flown in May 1969. This was the epic operation Heavy Tea. After the failure of the Black Cat Squadron to plant operating sensor pods near the Lop Nur Nuclear Weapons Test Base, the...