As Beale Air Force Base, Calif., prepares to bid farewell to its U-2 Dragon Lady fleet, it is poised to welcome a new battle management squadron, which will bring some 140 Airmen to the base starting in summer 2025.
U-2 Dragon Lady
The Air Force plans to retire its U-2 Dragon Lady fleet in fiscal 2026—but until then, officials say they’re hard at work to keep the iconic high-altitude surveillance planes flying and testing out technology that may be used on future aircraft.
With roots in the near-space photo reconnaissance of the U-2 Dragon Lady, space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance has become increasingly sophisticated and valuable over the past 65 years. Things will only get more interesting in the future.
RAF FAIRFORD, U.K.—At the end of a row of fighter jets at July's Royal International Air Tattoo, an entirely different kind of aircraft drew plenty of attention from the thousands in attendance—the U-2S Dragon Lady. Long shrouded in secrecy, the legendary high-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and ...
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Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works opened a new factory at its Palmdale, Calif., location Aug. 10, where it will likely produce multiple types of secret vehicles simultaneously. The factory exploits new digital technologies and automation that offer flexibility and speed of manufacturing, especially of short-run programs. ...
The turning point in the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Total aircraft inventory; aircraft inventory trends; ICBM and satellite inventory; aircraft age; tail codes.
One of the Air Force’s oldest planes flew a high-tech first Dec. 15, becoming the first military aircraft to fly with artificial intelligence as its copilot. A U-2 from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., flew with an AI algorithm, named ARTUµ in a reference to ...
Every year, Congress and the military debate which combat assets should head to the boneyard and which have more life left in them. Lawmakers often opt to keep Air Force systems that bring jobs to their districts, which complicates matters as the service looks to ...
The Air Force is calling on small businesses to pitch new technologies the service can help nurture into “war-winning” capabilities, service acquisition chief Will Roper said Oct. 26. These “Skyshots”—something short of “Moon Shots”—would be comparable to USAF's flying car initiative: requiring sustained investment that ...
The Chinese government is alleging an Air Force U-2 overflew a People’s Liberation Army training exercise, claiming it was a provocative act in a purported no-fly zone. At the same time, the Pentagon is warning allies of China’s military modernization and spreading influence. The Chinese ...
