Air International 2017-09
-
D.Isby - High Altitude ASR. What Comes Next? /Military/
The U-2S Dragon Lady and RQ-4 Global Hawk provide the US Air Force, and the wider Department of Defense, with intelligence gathered from deep within an adversary’s territory. Global Hawk is defined as a high-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft.
According to the US Air Force, the U-2S Dragon Lady provides high-altitude, all-weather surveillance and reconnaissance, day or night. It's suite of sensors gather critical imagery and signals intelligence for decision makers throughout all phases of conflict, including peacetime indications and warnings, low-intensity conflict, and large-scale hostilities. The original U-2A first flew in August 1955; the U-2R in 1967; the TR-1A in August 1981, the variant was subsequently re-designated U-2R. The U-2S designation was given in 1994. All U-2S aircraft are assigned to the 9th Reconaissance Wing based at Beale Air Force Base, California.