The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed Dragon Lady, is a single-engine, ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet / 21,000 m), all-weather intelligence gathering.[1] The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and communications purposes. Early versions of the U-2 were involved in several events through the Cold War, being flown over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. In 1960 Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface to air missile. Another U-2 piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr. was lost in a similar fashion in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years. The newest models (TR-1, U-2R, U-2S) entered service in the 1980s. The current model, the U-2S, received its most recent technical upgrade in 2012. They have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:16:59 +0000
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