U-2 Dragon Lady: The Super Mysterious Spy Plane in the World

The Lockheed U-2 first took to the skies in 1955, nicknamed the “Dragon Lady,” was like nothing that had flown before it and still flown today, due to extensive modifications. The USAF indicated that the U-2 was scheduled for retirement from service sometime after 2015, with many of its functions to be adopted by high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles.

The U-2 Spy Plane, one of the United States’ most important reconnaissance assets during the Cold War. It operated from Beale Air Force Base for over half a century, beginning in 1974. The U-2’s super mysterious moment came not from photography but from an accident that sparked a crisis.

The U-2 is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft providing signals, imagery, and electronic measurements and signature intelligence, or MASINT. 

Credit Video: US Military Power