Old Cia Plane - The 65-year-old U-2 spy plane can still adapt to modern technology. Photo credit: Gary Chalker Getty Images
The US Air Force is investing more than $50 million to keep one of its oldest aircraft in service indefinitely. Nicknamed the "Dragon Lady" in the CIA program, the U-2 is the world's most famous spy plane, easily recognizable by its glider shape and inconspicuous black color scheme. The Air Force ordered it from Lockheed in the 1950s as a reconnaissance aircraft that could fly above 70,000 feet—altitudes considered unattainable by Soviet surface-to-air missiles at the time.
Old Cia Plane
Today's U-2 capabilities at high altitudes, adaptable design and relatively low development costs have given it a new role: the 65-year-old aircraft will be part of an ambitious mission called the Advanced Combat Management System. a network that will connect weapons and sensors in space, at sea, under water, in the air and on land.
Secret Casualties Of The Cold War
Despite its age, the U-2 remains a capable reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft. The intelligence-gathering aircraft, which first flew in 1955 and entered service in 1956, was designed by then-Lockheed Chief Engineer Kelly Johnson and built just nine months after the company was awarded the contract. Its combination of high altitude and range capability still exceeds the capabilities of state-of-the-art tactical and command-and-control aircraft, making it a more effective intelligence gatherer and data "node"—a high-capacity set of channels that carry information from sensors. .
When CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers' U-2 was shot down over present-day Yekaterinburg, Russia in 1960, the plane attracted international attention. This shows that Soviet surface-to-air missiles were capable of threatening aircraft at high altitudes. The United States subsequently suspended reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union, but the U-2's intelligence-gathering capabilities were deemed too valuable to give up: later that year, the Dragon Maiden resumed reconnaissance missions—this time over Cuba.
The version of the U-2S currently in use by the Air Force was completed in the late 1980s; according to Irene Helley, Lockheed Martin's current U-2 program director, the planes have about 80 percent of their design life remaining. "It's a very versatile aircraft with a lot of life in it," she said. "Modernization is ideal."
How can an airplane designed with logarithmic rules in the 1950s be so versatile? The technologies available at the time could not provide the miniaturization and low power consumption that engineers today take for granted. Instead, Johnson and other engineers at Lockheed's Skunk Works engineering division built a massive U-2—63 feet long with a 105-foot wingspan—and powerful enough to support bulky, power-hungry cameras, radios, and vacuum tube Day. . Crucially, Johnson's team also modularized the process: Modern technology is housed in large compartments that can be replaced with modern electronics later with relative ease. Today's sensors and communications systems are smaller and require much less power, giving the U-2 extra space and capacity.
Meet Me In Mongolia: How Aging Aircraft May Dictate Kim Trump Venue
Despite several decommissioning proposals over the past 30 years, the aircraft continues to receive new optical and thermal imaging cameras, radar systems, air samplers, radio frequency sensors, data acquisition software and communications systems. "When we think of a new feature or sensor to bring to space, we're able to integrate it in a matter of weeks, rather than the [years] that [more complex] modern platforms require," Helley said.
Another thing about the U-2 is that the country paid for it. Building a new aircraft (whether piloted or autonomous) to completely replace it is exponentially more expensive and time-consuming than simply installing another set of upgraded systems. Lockheed Martin's own F-35 offers a striking comparison: after two decades of development, it is the most expensive weapons system in the history of the US Department of Defense, estimated to cost more than $1 million over its 55-year life. trillion dollars. Instead of building a new vehicle from scratch, it would be cheaper, easier and faster to turn the U-2 into a high-altitude hub that coordinates high-end communications — as the US Air Force announced in April.
Every branch of the US military uses different weapons and sensors everywhere from deep underground bunkers to high Earth orbit. In an ideal world, people would be able to take data from any of these systems and quickly use it to command other systems to act. However, many of these systems had their own controls and machine language, making it difficult for them to "talk" to each other. In 2018, the US Air Force began developing the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) as a network that could connect and transition between these disparate technologies.
ABMS is designed to augment a narrower existing network called the Joint Target Attack Surveillance Radar System (JSTARS). JSTARS tracks ground targets and assists in command and control — but it does so from a single platform, the airliner-sized E-8C aircraft. The E-8C coordinates between various units, including manned and unmanned aircraft, ships and submarines, and ground forces. ABMS would essentially loop JSTARS and other US surveillance systems into a single network, further expanding the available data and creating an umbrella platform from which sensor and targeting data could be moved between systems around the world.
How L3harris Created Us Special Operators' New Plane To Hunt And Strike Terrorists
The U-2 was planned as a high-altitude flight facilitator for the ABMS, but first needed a series of upgrades. The first round, due to begin delivery to the fleet in 2022, will provide pilots with new cockpit computers and displays. The aircraft's existing computer processor was integrated in the early 2000s; Lockheed Martin plans to replace the unit with a system called Enterprise Mission Computer 2. In addition to more computing power, EMC2 prevents suppliers from locking the aircraft into any one company's technology ecosystem. "Your Android or Apple [smartphone] can use apps from different vendors, [with] different accessories and plug-ins from different brands," Helley noted. To replicate this principle, EMC2 was built using an open-source architecture that has long been a standard in the commercial space and is designed to be adapted to aerospace systems. The technical standard will allow the U-2 to interface with other sensors, on-vehicle systems and weapons at various levels of security. "That's the goal of the Open Mission System and the U-2," Helley said.
In the cockpit, new touch screens will display images and maps with higher fidelity. They will combine information from on-board sensors and off-board sources such as ships, as well as on-board and satellite radar systems. The new displays will give pilots a more complete picture of objects, terrain and movements of interest than the old displays, allowing for better sharing of images and other data. While the system will still require pilots, such improvements will make their jobs easier: High levels of automation will analyze data collected by the craft, and ground controllers will now have remote access to control the craft's sensors.
Air Force 9th Reconnaissance Wing pilots who flew the U-2 were eager for the first round of upgrades. A Ninth Wing U-2 instructor pilot, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the updates will keep U-2 crews more informed than ever. "Think about being a tourist driving around New York using the latest version of Google Maps on a high-resolution touchscreen with an internet connection," he said. Updated only once a year."
After the initial upgrade is complete, Lockheed Martin plans to update the U-2's sensors and other electronic systems. This will allow it to transmit more detailed images and information to various communications and weapons systems. Switching between these systems will further expand its capabilities as an ABMS node – and show that the 65-year-old vessel is still capable of adapting technology developed over two generations.
Melvin Mcnair Hijacked A Plane To Join Black Panthers In Algeria
Discover the science that is changing the world. Explore our digital archive dating back to 1845, including articles by over 150 Nobel laureates. Although every effort has been made to follow the rules of citation style, there may still be some inconsistencies. If you have any questions, consult the appropriate style guide or other resource.
The U-2 was designed by aeronautical engineer Kelly Johnson, head of Lockheed's famous semi-secret "Skunk Works". It is based on the airframe of the F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter.
Made of aluminum and limited to subsonic flight, the U-2 can fly for many hours at altitudes above 70,000 feet (21,000 meters) with a payload of 3,000 pounds (1,350 kilograms). Its exact operational specifications are classified.
The U-2 Incident was a confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union in 1960 that began with the downing of an American U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union and led to the collapse of the Paris Summit. The pilot was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but in 1962 he was exchanged for a Soviet spy.
A 10c Thunderbolt Ii > Air Force > Fact Sheet Display
The U-2, a single-seat high-altitude jet aircraft, used by the United States for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance. perhaps the most famous spy plane
Super sonic the hedgehog pics, pics of super sonic, sonic and friends pics, pics of sonic characters, sonic coloring pics, sonic pics to color, sonic character pics, pics sonic, funny pics of sonic, creepy sonic pics, cool sonic pics, sonic unleashed pics
0 Comments