Air Force holds off on retiring famed reconnaissance plane

[unhappycamper]

Air Force holds off on retiring famed reconnaissance plane
By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, January 7, 2010

It was born during the Cold War more than 50 years ago, and the Air Force deems it the world’s toughest plane to fly. But the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane is so valued for its intelligence-gathering capabilities that, even in an age of high-tech unmanned drones, the old spy plane has found a whole new mission over the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The U-2 reconnaissance plane’s mission is changing. The new mission amounts to a landmark shift in how the venerable aircraft can be used: The U-2 now gives direct support to ground operations, including assisting troops in firefights.

Unmanned drones can “look” — get pictures of the battlefield. But so far, they can’t “listen” — eavesdrop electronically.

The U-2 does both.

“There’s a significant demand for the U-2 downrange in both areas of operation,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Kirt Stallings, who commands the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron from a base in Southwest Asia. “We’ve made a shift to counterinsurgency operations.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67036

[arcadian]

1. Why do we need billion dollar weapons systems when 1950s designs work perfectly fine?

Also evident in the C-130 Hercules.

[old mark]

2. Also the old B-52 and the not quite so old Warthog, both of which

just keep getting better as they age.

FWIW, even the M-16 has become old technology now, works better than when it was first introduced.

Bring back the M-60.


mark

[Sherman A1]

3. A question to ask your Congressman & Senators?

We have had a great bunch of superb designs on equipment through the years that would be more than adequate to serve us now and in the future. Yet, it's always about the newest, latest & greatest gee whiz thing which too often comes out as we must have the new thing, because it's the new thing as opposed to just replacing worn out equipment with the same type (or slightly enhanced).

But, then I am a fan of the B-36 and think it would be just the ticket to loiter over the horizon and deliver stand-off ordinance.

[PavePusher]

4. To at least partially answer some of the above questions...

Part of the problem is the very age of the current airframes. Maintenance is becoming more frequent and more costly as we use and abuse the aircraft. Starting up the production lines again would help, and be cheaper than developing entirely new aircraft, even with modifications for new equipment.Some of these aircraft are 50-60 years old.