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General Info

Lockheed
U-2/TR1 Dragonlady

Role High-altitude reconnaissance aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Lockheed Skunk Works
Designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight 1 August 1955; 68 years ago
Introduction 1956
Status In service
Primary users United States Air Force
Central Intelligence Agency (historical)
NASA
Republic of China Air Force (historical)
Produced 1955–1989
Number built 104 
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History Lockheed
Lockheed U-2/TR1 Dragonlady

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

Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953, it was approved in 1954, and its first test flight was in 1955. It was flown during the Cold War over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. In 1960, Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2C over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down in a U-2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Design

U-2 at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford

The design that gives the U-2 its remarkable performance also makes it a difficult aircraft to fly. Martin Knutson said that it "was the highest workload air plane I believe ever designed and built … you're wrestling with the airplane and operating the camera systems at all times", leaving no time to "worry about whether you're over Russia or you're flying over Southern California". The U-2 was designed and manufactured for minimum airframe weight, which results in an aircraft with little margin for error. Most aircraft were single-seat versions, with only five two-seat trainer versions known to exist. Early U-2 variants were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. The U-2C and TR-1A variants used the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojet. The U-2S and TU-2S variants incorporated the more powerful General Electric F118 turbofan engine.

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Lockheed U-2/TR1 DragonladyPhoto Gallery

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Lockheed/Martin Stealth Aircraft

Lockheed/Martin Aircraft
Lockheed U-2/TR-1A Dragonlady

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General Info

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) payload
  • Length: 63 ft 0 in (19.20 m)
  • Wingspan: 103 ft (31 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
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    Powerplant

  • Empty weight: 16,000 lb (7,257 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight:  (18,144 kg)
  • Fuel capacity:  11,200 L

  • Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F118-101 turbofan engine, 17,000 lbf (76 kN) thrust
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    Specifications

  • Cruise speed: Mach 0.715 470 mph; 760 km/h) at  (22,000 m)
  • Cruise speed: 765 km/h) at (20,000)
  • Stall speed: (75 mph, 120 km/h) [
  • Range: 6,090 nmi ( 11,280 km) plus
  • Endurance: 12 hours[
  • Service ceiling: 24,000 m) plus

  • Rate of climb: 9,000 ft/min (46 m/s)
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    Avionics

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    Special Links Lockheed U-2/TR-1A Dragonlady

    Links to Youtube & Others

    On 1 November 2013, media outlets reported that Skunk Works has been working on an unmanned reconnaissance airplane it has named SR-72, which would fly twice as fast as the SR-71, at Mach 6. However, the USAF is officially pursuing the Northrop Grumman RQ-180 UAV to assume the SR-71's strategic ISR role

    Lockheed/Martin
    U-2/TR-1A Dragonlady

    "The new aircraft is expected to strike targets anywhere across a continent in less than an hour."

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    Youtube Link

    The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23, is an American single-seat, twin-engine stealth fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force. 

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