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The U-2, nicknamed Dragon Lady, is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude surveillance aircraft flown by the United States Air Force. It provides continuous day and night, high-altitude (70,000 ft, 21,000 m plus), all-weather surveillance of an area in direct support of U.S. and allied ground and air forces. It also provides critical intelligence to decision-makers through all phases of conflict, including peacetime indications and warnings, crises, operations other than war, and major theater war. The aircraft are also used for electronic sensor research and development, satellite calibration, and satellite data validation.
A classified budget document approved by the Pentagon on December 23, 2005, calls for the termination of the U-2 program by 2011, with some planes being retired as early as 2007. The U-2 would likely be supplanted by the Northrop Grumman's high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle.http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20060104-035558-8823r
Details
The U-2, whose development name at Lockheed was the CL-282 Aquatone, needed an official name. It could not be named with letters such as B for bomber and F for fighter because its purpose was not for any of those specific designations. Also, since the project was under high secrecy, it could not be called a reconnaissance plane. Finally, the Air Force decided to call it a utility plane. Since the designations U-1 (de Havilland Canada "Otter") and U-3 (Cessna 310) had already been chosen, the designation given to the plane was U-2.
Initially, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson adapted the F-104 Starfighter, replacing the low aspect ratio blade wings with extremely large glider type wings as a starting point. High aspect ratio wings give the U-2 some glider-like characteristics. The aircraft is extremely challenging to fly, not only due to its unusual landing characteristics, but also because of the extreme altitudes it can reach. When flying the U-2A and U-2C models (no longer in service) close to its operational ceiling, the maximum speed (critical mach) and the minimum speed (stall speed) approach the same number, presenting a narrow window of safe airspeed the plane must maintain. In these models over 90% of a typical mission is flown within five knots (9 km/h) of stall speed. The difficulty experienced by the pilots flying the U-2 led to it being called the "Dragonlady" because the aircraft was extremely unforgiving with respect to pilot ineptitude or incompetence.
Because of its high-altitude mission, the pilot must wear the equivalent of a space suit. The suit delivers the pilot's oxygen supply and emergency protection in case cabin pressure is lost at altitude (the cabin provides pressure equivalent to approximately 29,000 feet (8800 m)). To prevent hypoxia and decrease the chance of decompression sickness, pilots don an S1034 full pressure suit (manufactured by the David Clark Company) and begin breathing 100% oxygen one hour prior to launch; while moving from the building to the aircraft they breathe from a portable liquid oxygen supply.
The U-2 is considered one of the most challenging aircraft in the military inventory to fly and requires a high degree of airmanship from its pilots. Its large wingspan and resulting glider-like characteristics make the U-2 highly sensitive to crosswinds. This sensitivity, and the aircraft's tendency to float over the runway, makes the U-2 notoriously difficult to land. Typically, a second U-2 pilot, designated as the mission's backup pilot and referred to as the "mobile", waits in a high-performance chase car (currently a Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac GTO) at the end of the runway as the aircraft makes it landing approach. As the U-2 passes, the chase car follows it at high speed, with the mobile calling out the aircraft's altitude via radio to the pilot. When the aircraft's main landing gear is within approximately two feet of the runway surface the pilot deploys spoilers located on the top of the wings to reduce lift (spoiling the lift and increasing the stall speed by 2 knots). Retractable stall strips on the wings' leading edges that are deployed prior to entering the landing phase help to produce equal stalling effects. This is done to minimize wing drop, assisting in aircraft control particularly during strong cross winds. Another distinguishing characteristic of the U-2 is its landing gear. Instead of the typical tricycle configuration consisting of a nose wheel and two sets of main wheels under each wing, the U-2 uses a bicycle configuration consisting of one set of main wheels located just behind the cockpit and one set of rear wheels located behind the engine. To maintain balance and allow the aircraft to taxi, two sets of auxiliary wheels called "pogos" are installed under each wing by ground crew. The pogos fall out of sockets in the wing onto the runway surface when the aircraft takes off. The ground crew collects the pogos and re-installs them after the aircraft lands. U-2 ground crews, in a spirit of playfulness, often perpetuate the idea that the pogos are installed from the back of a pick-up truck that drives alongside the aircraft while it is moving at high speed down the runway. In fact, the pogos are installed after the aircraft has come to a full stop and the wings have settled onto the ground. Skids made of titanium strips are located on the bottom of each wing tip to protect the wing. Once the pogos are installed, the aircraft taxis under its own power back to its parking location.
The aircraft carries a variety of sensors. The U-2 is capable of simultaneously collecting signals and imagery intelligence. Imagery intelligence sensors include either wet film photo, electro-optic or radar imagery -- the latter from the Raytheon ASARS-2 system. It can use both line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight data links.
The aircraft completed an upgrade to the General Electric F118-101 engine in 1998, primarily to increase maintainability by replacing the aging Pratt & Whitney J75 engine that had first been developed in the 1950s. Significant side benefits of the newer GE engine were better fuel economy, reduced weight and increased power. To increase longevity the GE engine was derated to roughly match the output from the PW engine. Other upgrades to the sensors and the addition of the Global Positioning System increased collection capability and provided superimposed geo-coordinates directly on collected images.
History
The U-2 project was initiated in the early 1950s by the CIA which desperately wanted accurate information on the Soviet Union. Overflights of the Soviet Union with modified bombers started around 1951, but they were vulnerable to antiaircraft fire and fighters, and a number of border flights were shot down. It was thought a high altitude aircraft such as the U-2 would be hard to detect and impossible to shoot down. Lockheed Corporation was given the assignment with an unlimited budget and a short time frame. Its Skunk Works, headed by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson performed remarkably, and the first flight occurred in August 1955. Kodak also developed new cameras, which worked well. It made its first over-flight of the Soviet Union in June 1956 starting from the Army Airfield in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany (Operation Overflight).
The aircraft came to public attention during the U-2 Crisis when pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet territory on May 1 1960. On October 14, 1962, it was a U-2 from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing that photographed the Soviet military installing nuclear warhead missiles in Cuba, precipitating the Cuban missile crisis. However, later in the Cuban missile crisis, another U-2 was shot down, killing the pilot, Major Rudolph Anderson. Major Anderson was posthumously awarded the first Air Force Cross. The expected development by the Soviets of SAMs that could reach the U-2 — the type that eventually shot down Powers and Anderson — prompted the CIA to authorize the development of a faster, higher-flying reconnaissance aircraft even before the U-2 became operational. Lockheed's proposal, the A-12, was selected and the CIA ordered production of the new aircraft under the codename OXCART. The A-12 design spawned several variants, including the Air Force's YF-12 interceptor, the CIA's M/D-21, and the famous USAF SR-71, commonly called the "Blackbird."
The U-2 provides daily peacetime indications and warning intelligence collection from its current operating locations around the world. When requested from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U-2 also has provided photography supporting their disaster relief efforts. U-2s also provided critical intelligence data during all phases of Operations Desert Storm and Allied Force.
However, most imagery intelligence used by the US military now comes from reconnaissance satellites. The first Corona surveillance satellite took more photographs of the Soviet Union than the total from all 24 of the U-2 missions over the country. On the other hand, satellite orbits are predictable. A resourceful enemy may be able to schedule sensitive operations in between satellite overflights, partially negating intelligence gathering.
Losses
The U-2 had a very high loss rate initially. Of about 86 airframes produced, 40 were destroyed or severely damaged in crashes through 2001, and at least four were shot down, over the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China. Some airframes were rebuilt from parts of crashed aircraft. Transitioning into the aircraft was hazardous; the U.S. Air Force lost 9 aircraft in 1½ years when they started operating the U-2 in 1957.Polmar, Norman; "Spyplane, The U-2 History Declassified", MBI, 2001.
On January 26, 2003 a U-2 crashed near Osan Air Base in South Korea injuring three Koreans on the ground, destroying the aircraft and causing extensive damage. The pilot ejected and suffered only minor injuries. A subsequent investigation blamed an engine failure coupled with deteriorating weather conditions. http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?storyID=123005109.
On June 21, 2005 at 22:30 UT a U-2 crashed while returning from a mission supporting to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123010842 The pilot, who was serving with the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing based at Al Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, was killed. Air Force investigations conclude the aircraft crashed while approaching the base for a night landing after mechanical failure deprived the pilot of hydraulic power, primary instrument displays, and interior lighting. This compounded a misperception by the pilot that a total engine failure had occurred, which actually was not the case. The resulting disorientation kept the aircraft in a powered descent until impact. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123012041
Variants
The U-2R, first flown in 1967, is significantly larger and more capable than the original aircraft. A tactical reconnaissance version, the TR-1A, first flew in August 1981. A distinguishing feature of these aircraft is the addition of a large instrumentation "superpod" under each wing. Designed for standoff tactical reconnaissance in Europe, the TR-1A was structurally identical to the U-2R. The 17th Reconnaissance Wing, Royal Air Force Station Alconbury, England used operational TR-1As from 1983 until 1991. The last U-2 and TR-1 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force in October 1989. In 1992 all TR-1s and U-2s (all U-2Rs) were designated U-2Rs. The two-seat trainer variant of the TR-1, the TR-1B, was redesignated as the TU-2R. After upgrading with the F-118-101 engine, the former U-2Rs were designated the U-2S Senior Year.
A derivative of the U-2 known as the ER-2 (Earth Resources -2) is used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for high altitude civilian research including Earth resources, celestial observations, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and oceanic processes.
- U-2A — The first production model of the U-2 spy plane; J57-P-37A engine.
- WU-2A — Weather, atmospheric research aircraft.
- U-2B — Improved production version; J57-P-31 engine.
- U-2C — Improved production version; J75-P-13 engine.
- U-2CT — Two-seat training version.
- U-2D — Two-seat high-altitude research aircraft.
- U-2EPX — Proposed maritime surveillance version for the U.S. Navy.
- U-2R (TR-1) — larger wing and fuselage, J75-P-13B engine; "superpod" instrument pods under wings
- U-2S — R with F118-GE-101 engine.
Bases
U-2s equip the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, California, and support U.S. national and tactical collection requirements world-wide. U-2 pilots are trained at Beale AFB initially using the U-2ST, the two-seat trainer version of the aircraft. In 2005, there were 29 active Air Force aircraft and 5 two-seaters. The two civilian ER-2's are based at the Dryden Flight Research Center.
Recent Developments
In January, 2006 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced the pending retirement of the U-2 fleet. Designed as a cost cutting measure, and as part of a larger reorganization and redefinition of the Air Force's mission that includes the retirement of the E-4B fleet, the cancellation of the E-10 MC2A program, as well as the elimination of all but 58 B-52's. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld states that this move will in no way impair the Air Force's ability to deliver the mission of the U-2 which will be accomplished by satellites and a growing supply of unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft.
Specifications (U-2R)
- Inventory: Active force, 35 (4 two-seat trainers); Reserve, 0; ANG, 0
U-2 in popular culture
A popular theory about the origins of the name of Irish rock band U2 is that the name is taken from the U-2 spy plane. This theory is bolstered by the fact that in the band's early days, their name was written as "U-2". Lead singer Bono was born just ten days after the U-2 Crisis and has debunked the other popular theory that U2 stands for 'you too'.
The crisis incident is mentioned in Billy Joel's history themed song "We Didn't Start the Fire" as the first event in the 12th stanza.
Operators
- Black Cat Squadron of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force, United States Air Force
References
External links
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Lockheed Corporation | Stealth aircraft | U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft 1950-1959
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