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The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is an American single-engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated from the 1950s by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, high-altitude (70,000 feet, 21,300 meters), all-weather intelligence gathering. [1]
The U-2, although slower than the SR-71, cost much less to operate and provided more "on-station" time. As intelligence collection increased throughout the 1980s, 99th U-2 pilots manned detachments at sites around the world. With the SR-71's retirement in 1990, the U-2 assumed responsibility for all of America's manned high-altitude reconnaissance.
S/U/V/W: 22 [3] The breakdown is as follows: 1 RC-135S Cobra Ball, 2 RC-135U Combat Sent, 1 RC-135V Rivet Joint, 18 RC-135W Rivet Joint. U-2 Dragon Lady: United States high altitude reconnaissance: U-2S: 27 27 U-2S as of September 2023 (USAF Almanac). [1] 24 U-2S operational (WAF 2025). [2] Trainer aircraft listed separately. U-28A Draco ...
99th Reconnaissance Squadron – U-2S Dragon Lady; 427th Reconnaissance Squadron – RQ-180; Detachment 1 – U-2S Dragon Lady (RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus) Detachment 2 – U-2S Dragon Lady (Osan AB, S.Korea) Detachment 3 – U-2S Dragon Lady; Detachment 4 – U-2S Dragon Lady (Andersen AFB, Guam) 9th Maintenance Group. 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Ten years later the U-2 "DragonLady" joined the 9th. The wing was the home for both America's high altitude, manned, reconnaissance aircraft. In 1986, the 5th activated and rejoined the 9th as the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Training Squadron. [6] The squadron recruited, screened, and trained U-2 pilots to fly operational missions around the ...
Merryl Tengesdal (born 1971) [1] is an American retired career military officer who is the first and only Black woman [2] [3] to fly the United States Air Force's U-2 spy plane used for specialized high-altitude reconnaissance missions. [2] She is one of five women and only the fourth Black person (in 2004) to be in the U-2 program. [4]
Intelligence, U-2 Dragon Lady, RQ-4 Global Hawk: Activated in 1988 as the Fighter Intelligence Officer Course; became the Weapons School Intelligence Division in 1990. Graduates now include intelligence officers, as well as pilots of high-altitude ISR aircraft. 26th Weapons Squadron: 30 September 2008 MQ-9
On 1 July 1976, the U-2 joined the SR-71 in the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing giving the unit two of the most unusual aircraft in the world. The "Dragon Lady" had gained national and international recognition with flights over the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and Southeast Asia. The U-2 was the perfect complement to the SR-71.