This is a thread about the manned US Air Force recon and spy planes.
In this I include the U-2, the SR-71, the top Secret Aurora Project and any newer upcoming manned aircraft of this variety. The Global Hawk, Triton and other unmanned aircraft are not included.
I will start with the U-2, which is still in operation with the US Air Force (in its latest, significantly upgraded state) after well over fifty years.
The USAF U-2S Dragon Lady
The U2 was built by Lockheed and is nicknamed the Dragon Lady. It is a single-engine, very high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency. It provides day and night, very high-altitude (over 70,000 feet), all-weather intelligence gathering capabilities.
These aircraft were initially designed in the 1950s and first flew in 1955 and became operational with the US Air Force in 1957.
They were used extensively during the Cold War and three were lost to missile shoot downs. One was lost to the Soviet Union in 1960, the famous aircraft piloted by Gary Powers. Another was shot down during the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962. The third, which was operated by the Republic of China on Taiwan, was shot down by the People's Republic of China on the mainland in 1965. Nonetheless, the aircraft have ben used in all of the Cold War and post Cold War conflicts for reconnaissance missions.
Since that time they have been regularly upgraded, including the all new versions, the larger, greater wig span, higher flying, and capable of carrying much more equipment U-2R in the late 1970s and TR-1A aircraft in the early 1980s.
Of the over 100 aircraft built (the last being delivered in 1989), 52 are of the newer variety. All of the U-2R and TR-1A/B aircraft were designated U-2R in 1992 for uniformity.
Those upgraded with the latest GE F118 engines in the 1990s were designated U-2S and TU-2S (for the two seat trainer) and are still in use today. Thirty-one were converted to the U2-S configuration,. All have been upgraded regularly with new sensors, new electronics, new engines, etc. The latest upgrade occurred in 2012.
Retirement of the aircraft is slated to begin in 2016 and will take at least two years, by which time the U-2 will have been in service with the US Air Force for over 60 years.
The aircraft are over 100 feet long, can cruise at around 500 mph, fly at over 70,000 feet, have an unrefueled combat radius of almost 2,000 miles, and can carry up to 25,000 lbs of reconnaissance equipment, sensors, etc.
Here are some pictures:
You can see a lot more pictures of these historic and still effective recon aircraft at my
In the pictures you can see some of the various, numerous configurations for the U-2S shown in the one diagram.
In this I include the U-2, the SR-71, the top Secret Aurora Project and any newer upcoming manned aircraft of this variety. The Global Hawk, Triton and other unmanned aircraft are not included.
I will start with the U-2, which is still in operation with the US Air Force (in its latest, significantly upgraded state) after well over fifty years.
The USAF U-2S Dragon Lady
The U2 was built by Lockheed and is nicknamed the Dragon Lady. It is a single-engine, very high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency. It provides day and night, very high-altitude (over 70,000 feet), all-weather intelligence gathering capabilities.
These aircraft were initially designed in the 1950s and first flew in 1955 and became operational with the US Air Force in 1957.
They were used extensively during the Cold War and three were lost to missile shoot downs. One was lost to the Soviet Union in 1960, the famous aircraft piloted by Gary Powers. Another was shot down during the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962. The third, which was operated by the Republic of China on Taiwan, was shot down by the People's Republic of China on the mainland in 1965. Nonetheless, the aircraft have ben used in all of the Cold War and post Cold War conflicts for reconnaissance missions.
Since that time they have been regularly upgraded, including the all new versions, the larger, greater wig span, higher flying, and capable of carrying much more equipment U-2R in the late 1970s and TR-1A aircraft in the early 1980s.
Of the over 100 aircraft built (the last being delivered in 1989), 52 are of the newer variety. All of the U-2R and TR-1A/B aircraft were designated U-2R in 1992 for uniformity.
Those upgraded with the latest GE F118 engines in the 1990s were designated U-2S and TU-2S (for the two seat trainer) and are still in use today. Thirty-one were converted to the U2-S configuration,. All have been upgraded regularly with new sensors, new electronics, new engines, etc. The latest upgrade occurred in 2012.
Retirement of the aircraft is slated to begin in 2016 and will take at least two years, by which time the U-2 will have been in service with the US Air Force for over 60 years.
The aircraft are over 100 feet long, can cruise at around 500 mph, fly at over 70,000 feet, have an unrefueled combat radius of almost 2,000 miles, and can carry up to 25,000 lbs of reconnaissance equipment, sensors, etc.
Here are some pictures:
You can see a lot more pictures of these historic and still effective recon aircraft at my
In the pictures you can see some of the various, numerous configurations for the U-2S shown in the one diagram.
