[MilCom] U-2 Spy Plane Evades the Day of Retirement

[Duane Mantick]

It's an interesting article but a point that needs to be driven home when using the term "retirement" is that none of the currently active U2 airframes are *original* U2's, so far as anybody knows.  :-)  To the best information that I have available, ALL of the original U2 aircraft (which would now be on the order of 55 years old, +/- a few) that were not destroyed for whatever reason are "gate guards, static displays or in museums".  I do not think that even NASA's "original" U2 aircraft flies and hasn't for a long time.  A later model, U2C, was being flow by NASA but when the newer aircraft (see below) came along, the "C" models were also expected to be retired.
 
The current aircraft were built either as U2R or TR1A, which were enlarged and improved airframes (and NASA acquired at least one ER2 variant of the TR1A),  somewhere in the 1980 to 89 approx. time frame.  The TR1A were all eventually redesignated U2R about 1992, and a recent upgrade program brought them up to a new designation, U2S.  That included new avionics and engine and possibly new sensor equipment although that would probably all be classified.
 
There have been repeated comments made about retiring these newer models in a time frame anywhere from 2005 to 2020, and allowing UAVs to do the work.  Time will tell.........
 
The article referenced did make one very good point - the U2 has never been the safest aircraft in the world.  Aside from being shot at by SAM missiles, it operates in a flight regime that is incredibly narrow and unforgiving.  There are a number of excellent books on the U2 by respected authors such as Jay Miller, I highly recommend them both from the perspective of the aircraft itself and its operation, but also as an insight into the mindset of the Cold War and the events that brought these remarkable aircraft into being.  It is also worthy to take note of other aircraft proposed for the same mission, some of which were built and some of which were not..........AND, the knowledge even *before* the Powers shoot-down that the U2 was vulnerable and that something that flew higher and considerably faster was needed - hence the birth of the Blackbird family, and the birth of "stealth" as a real, not just theoretical concept.
 
Duane
WB9OMC


--- On Mon, 3/22/10, giantkiller54 at comcast.net <giantkiller54 at comcast.net> wrote:


From: giantkiller54 at comcast.net <giantkiller54 at comcast.net>
Subject: [MilCom] U-2 Spy Plane Evades the Day of Retirement
To: "1Milcom" <milcom at mailman.qth.net>, "1MilRadioComs" <MilRadioComms at yahoogroups.com>, "1northeastmilair" <northeastmilair at yahoogroups.com>, "Krisnosky, Joe" <JoeKris56 at hotmail.com>
Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 8:42 AM


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/business/22plane.html?pagewanted=1&hp 

Sonny 
K1USW 
Southeastern Mass 
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