After the end of the Second World War, Russia immediately became a threat to the United States, as they promoted the spread of Communism. When Russia became the Soviet Union after World War II, they raised the Iron Curtain and blocked off all access and communication in and out of the country. This ignited the Cold War. The intelligence on the Soviet Union was lacking, as traditional means of spying didn’t work because the Soviet Union was blocked off from the rest of the world. Since the U.S. was in a potential nuclear war with the Soviet Union, the United States military needed to gain intelligence on the enemy’s military strength. Rumors of a strong Soviet arsenal of bombers spread like wildfire and the U.S. needed proof that the bombers existed, so that they would have adequate reasons to attack if needed. The U.S. government desired some sort of reconnaissance aircraft that could bring home photos of the Soviet Union, without Soviet detection. In 1953, a proposal was made. The U.S. Air Force wrote a proposal to Lockheed Martin for an aircraft that could fly above 70,000 feet, as 70,000 feet was believed to be how far Soviet missiles were able to reach. It was to be used to fly over the Soviet Union and gain intelligence. However, this was illegal under international law, so the U.S had to maintain extreme secrecy on this project. To maintain its secrecy, the U.S. came up with a cover story, stating that this aircraft was developed strictly for the purpose of performing high altitude weather research. Lockheed Martin was given a task to design a revolutionary reconnaissance aircraft, as nothing like this had ever existed before. The company gave the assignment to their best aeronautical engineer, Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. Johnson took the project. He worked in a separate division of the company, commonly called the “Skunk Works.” Johnson was the chief of the Skunk Works project office and designed the desired aircraft.