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In May 1961, in an attempt to extend the U-2's already considerable range, Lockheed modified six CIA U-2s and several USAF U-2s with aerial refueling equipment, which allowed the aircraft to receive fuel from either the KC-97 or from the KC-135. This extended the aircraft's range from approximately 4,000 to 8,000 nautical miles (7,400 to 15,000 ...
AN/ALQ-221 Advanced Defensive System is a radar warning receiver and electronic countermeasures system manufactured by BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire, for use on the U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragonlady reconnaissance aircraft.
O-57 Grasshopper at the National Museum of the United States Air Force A de Havilland Mosquito PR Mk XVI (F-8) of the 654th BS, Eighth Air Force at RAF Watton, 1944 North American B-25D (F-10) Mitchell photographic reconnaissance and mapping aircraft North American P-51C-5-NT Mustang (F-6C) Serial No 42-103368 of the 15th TRS at St. Dizler Airfield, France, Autumn 1944.
The forward nose section of the B-57Es were modified to house a KA-1 36-inch forward oblique camera and a low panoramic KA-56 camera used on the Lockheed U-2. Mounted inside the specially configured bomb bay door was a KA-1 vertical camera, a K-477 split vertical day-night camera, an infrared scanner, and a KA-1 left oblique camera.
The U-2 ceased overflights when Francis Gary Powers was shot down during a mission on May 1, 1960, while over Russia. The Skunk Works had predicted that the U-2 would have a limited operational life over the Soviet Union. The CIA agreed. In late 1959, Skunk Works received a contract to build five A-12 aircraft at a cost of $96 million.
The Americans developed and made extensive use of the high-altitude observation aircraft for intelligence-gathering. The Lockheed U-2, and later the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird were developed in great secrecy. The U-2 at its time was expected to be invulnerable to defensive measures due to its extreme altitude capabilities.
The Ranch received its first U-2 delivery on 24 July 1955 from Burbank on a C-124 Globemaster II cargo plane, accompanied by Lockheed technicians on a Douglas DC-3. [31] Regular Military Air Transport Service flights were set up between Area 51 and Lockheed's offices in Burbank, California .
The longest continuing United States classified military airplane program is the testing and evaluation of Foreign Aircraft Technology. During the Cold War, secret test flying of Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau (MiG) and other Soviet aircraft was an ongoing mission dating back to the acquisition of the first Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-23 in 1953.