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" OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — While high-tech drones and satellites get most of the attention as eyes in the sky, the U.S. military here continues to rely heavily on the U-2 — a Cold War relic that’s hard to fly and lands with help from a car trailing it down the runway.
“I think most people’s reaction is: `Oh, we still fly U-2s?,’ ” said Lt. Col. Deric Kraxberger, commander of the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, who has flown the bulky birds for about a decade and embraces the challenges they bring.
“The aircraft is built with a very small structural margin of safety,” he said. “It’s fragile. She’s a challenge … a handful. You never get complacent flying the U-2. At altitude, you feel very isolated and very small. Down low, it’s a lot of work. It flies like a truck without power steering … so you’re muscling the aircraft through the air.”
The U-2, nicknamed “The Dragon Lady,” was first put into use in the mid-1950s at the height of the Cold War to spy on the Soviet Union, China and other Communist nations. In 1960, one was shot down over Soviet territory; another was shot down over Cuba in 1962.
Government and military officials have talked for years about putting the U-2 out to pasture, replacing it — in part or entirely — with drones and other more modern surveillance equipment. "
.....
" The U-2, capable of flying for up to 12 hours, climbs rapidly and spends much of its time above 63,000 feet, what’s known as “Armstrong’s Line,” he said.
At altitudes sometimes in excess of 70,000 feet — about twice that of commercial flights — U-2 pilots can see the curvature of the earth and the terminator, the dividing line between day and night, he said.
“I have personally experienced a meteor shower, where the meteors were burning out below the aircraft,” the commander said.
Kraxberger explained that the information gathered is relayed to a mission control-like crew of intelligence analysts on the ground which could number “in the hundreds.”
“We have a preplanned route, but we’re flexible enough to alter that if something catches our eye,” Kraxberger said. “That’s part of intelligence gathering – finding out what you don’t know; not necessarily confirming what you do.” "
" OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — While high-tech drones and satellites get most of the attention as eyes in the sky, the U.S. military here continues to rely heavily on the U-2 — a Cold War relic that’s hard to fly and lands with help from a car trailing it down the runway.
“I think most people’s reaction is: `Oh, we still fly U-2s?,’ ” said Lt. Col. Deric Kraxberger, commander of the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, who has flown the bulky birds for about a decade and embraces the challenges they bring.
“The aircraft is built with a very small structural margin of safety,” he said. “It’s fragile. She’s a challenge … a handful. You never get complacent flying the U-2. At altitude, you feel very isolated and very small. Down low, it’s a lot of work. It flies like a truck without power steering … so you’re muscling the aircraft through the air.”
The U-2, nicknamed “The Dragon Lady,” was first put into use in the mid-1950s at the height of the Cold War to spy on the Soviet Union, China and other Communist nations. In 1960, one was shot down over Soviet territory; another was shot down over Cuba in 1962.
Government and military officials have talked for years about putting the U-2 out to pasture, replacing it — in part or entirely — with drones and other more modern surveillance equipment. "
.....
" The U-2, capable of flying for up to 12 hours, climbs rapidly and spends much of its time above 63,000 feet, what’s known as “Armstrong’s Line,” he said.
At altitudes sometimes in excess of 70,000 feet — about twice that of commercial flights — U-2 pilots can see the curvature of the earth and the terminator, the dividing line between day and night, he said.
“I have personally experienced a meteor shower, where the meteors were burning out below the aircraft,” the commander said.
Kraxberger explained that the information gathered is relayed to a mission control-like crew of intelligence analysts on the ground which could number “in the hundreds.”
“We have a preplanned route, but we’re flexible enough to alter that if something catches our eye,” Kraxberger said. “That’s part of intelligence gathering – finding out what you don’t know; not necessarily confirming what you do.” "
