In contemporary times, when you mention intelligence gathering, the first thoughts that likely come to mind are spy satellites, drones, and AI-backed computers. However, nearly 60 years ago, during the Cold War, the tip of the intelligence spear was a futuristic, state-of-the-art plane that looked like it came straight out of a movie. That plane was the SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird was the premier reconnaissance aircraft of its day, using unheard-of speed, altitude, and surveillance equipment to gather intelligence on Cold War adversaries, primarily the Soviet Union.

But what if we told you that the Soviet Union inadvertently helped supply the bulk of the critical metal needed to build the SR-71 and, in turn, gave the United States a tool for spying on it? The Soviet Union was the world’s largest producer of titanium, and through covert procurement operations by the CIA, enough titanium was secured to build the ultimate spy plane, thus creating a secret CIA-Soviet connection.

The proliferation, development, and national security concerns of nuclear weapons in the mid-late 1950s were of grave concern to both the United States and the Soviet Union. After President Eisenhower’s “open skies” plan was rejected by Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev in 1955, the U.S. turned to other methods to keep an eye on Soviet nuclear weapons. The result was the Lockheed U-2, with its high operational ceiling of over 70,000 feet, small radar signature and advanced equipment for intelligence gathering. The plane conducted many successful missions until CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down by Soviet surface-to-air missiles and captured on May 1, 1960. The parameters had changed, and the U.S. now needed an aircraft that could fly higher and faster or risk another embarrassing situation like the Powers shootdown.

The answer would come from the team at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Division (commonly known as “Skunk Works”), led by its manager, Clarence L. Johnson. The Skunk Works group built heavily upon data and information gathered from earlier programs such as the A-12 and YF-12A interceptor, which were the first Mach 3+ aircraft, exceeding 2,200 miles per hour. Pushing the envelope even further quickly led to the realization that aluminum would not work as a structural metal due to extremely high temperatures. This led Johnson to conclude that “only titanium … had the ability to withstand the operating temperatures encountered.”

Titanium was the only option for the SR-71 as it provided the strength of steel, while being durable and able to handle temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The problem wasn’t that titanium was rare, which it isn’t, but rather the supply of the higher-grade refined titanium. This is what the U.S. lacked in sufficient quantities at the time, but ironically, the Soviets had both the production facilities and supplies of it to more than meet the need. To acquire the necessary titanium, the CIA put together a carefully constructed network of shell companies, third-party countries, intermediaries, and paperwork to buy the necessary quantities and have them shipped to the U.S. Many cover stories were used in the process of acquiring the titanium, such as it was going to be used to make industrial pizza ovens for restaurants. Ultimately, the flow of thousands of tons of titanium would lead to the building of 32 SR-71 Blackbirds.

There’s no ignoring the irony of the Soviet Union producing the titanium that created the advanced surveillance plane that then spied on it. This incident demonstrates the lengths that the U.S. would go to in waging the Cold War, using espionage, technology, and trade in unanticipated ways. The SR-71 is more than an example of advanced technology, it also represents the creative means to bring it to fruition — pizza ovens and all.