U-2 Dragon Lady: The Super Mysterious Spy Plane in the World

You're ready. U-2 Dragon Lady. The super mysterious spy plane in the world. The Lockheed U-2 first took to the skies in 1955. Nicknamed the Dragon Lady, was like nothing that had flown before it and still flown today due to extensive modifications. Over its long service life, the U-2 has periodically faced competition from other intelligence-gathering systems, for instance Earth-orbiting satellites or the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. But intelligence and military services consistently have found it useful because of its operational flexibility, excellent aerodynamic design and adaptable airframe. In 2011, the U.S. Air Force indicated that the U-2 was scheduled for retirement from service sometime after 2015, with many of its functions to be adopted by high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aerial vehicles. With the expansion of the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in 2014, however, the retirement of the U-2 was pushed back indefinitely. The U-2 Dragon Lady, one of the United States' most important reconnaissance assets during the Cold War. It operated from Beale Air Force Base for over half a century, beginning in 1974. The U-2's super-mysterious moment came not from photography, but from an accident that sparked a crisis. The 1960 U-2 spy incident saw Francis Gary Powers, an American pilot, shot down by Soviet air defenses while flying a U-2 deep inside Soviet territory. Though Powers managed to safely parachute to the ground after his U-2 took Soviet anti-aircraft fire, he was subsequently captured. One of the United States' most secret aerial reconnaissance platforms for more than half a century, the storied U-2 Dragon Lady still flies some of the U.S. military's most sensitive spy missions worldwide. The U-2 is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft providing signals, imagery and electronic measurements and signature intelligence, or MASINT. Long and narrow wings give the U-2 glider-like characteristics and allow it to quickly lift heavy sensor payloads to unmatched altitudes, keeping them there for extended periods of time. The U-2 is capable of gathering a variety of imagery including multispectral electro-optic, infrared and synthetic aperture radar products which can be stored or sent to ground exploitation centers. In addition, it also supports high-resolution, broad-area synoptic coverage provided by the optical bar camera producing traditional film products that are developed and analyzed after landing. The U-2 also carries a signals intelligence payload. All intelligence products except for wet film can be transmitted in near-real-time anywhere in the world via air-to-ground or air-to-satellite data links, rapidly providing critical information to combatant commanders. MASINT provides indications of recent activity in areas of interest and reveals efforts to conceal the placement or true nature of man-made objects. The U-2 routinely flown at altitudes over 70,000 feet, depending on the need, because it was built to spot. The pilot must wear a full-pressure suit similar to those worn by astronauts. The low-altitude handling characteristics of the aircraft and bicycle-type landing gear require precise control inputs during landing. Forward visibility is also limited due to the extended aircraft nose and tail dragger configuration. A second U-2 pilot normally chases each landing in a high-performance vehicle, assisting the pilot by providing radio inputs for altitude and runway alignment. These characteristics combine to earn the U-2 a widely accepted title as the most difficult aircraft in the world to fly. The plane's designers at Lockheed Skunk Works Experimental Aircraft Division partially solved this problem by giving it an enormous wingspan The plane's wings made it unwieldy, but gave it a major height advantage over Soviet fighter jets. It could fly up to 70,000 feet. Even at that altitude, its sophisticated cameras gave it the ability to provide a steady stream of intelligence to U.S. analysts. The other variable controlling the plane's altitude was its weight, and the designers at Skunk Works worked to reduce it however they could by stripping the plane of its landing gear. Instead of giving the U-2 a typical fighter jet's three-wheeled landing gear, Skunk Works cut back and gave the spy plane only two, each placed in the center of the plane, akin to a bicycle's wheels. The decision saved critical pounds off the aircraft's weight, helping to achieve the desired altitude. When it came time to take off, two additional wheels would be attached to the plane, one on each wing. After takeoff, they'd be dropped, and the plane would be free to ascend to the needed height. Landings were another matter. With only two wheels, the U-2's pilot would attempt to land the plane and slow it down without crashing either of its enormous wings into the ground. For this purpose, the pilot would be assisted by a crew of ground personnel, led by a chase car, which would drive after the landing plane and radio back information such as its height and position to the pilot. After the U-2 was slowed down enough, one of the wings could be tipped onto the ground to bring the plane to a stop. A titanium skid plate underneath each prevented the wing from taking damage during this phase. The design was unwieldy and difficult to master, and innovations in the years since the 1950s would help modernize the U-2's to land more normally. But this system works as it is, and it's helped the U-2 to carry out its critical intelligence missions for nearly 70 years.