"Why the Air Force wants to keep Global Hawks and retire U-2s" Topic

"The cost of flying the Global Hawk reconnaissance drone has dropped to the point where Air Force leaders want to replace the venerable U-2, but the new drone still has years to go before it will match the Dragon Lady's spy abilities, officials said.

For the past few years, the Air Force had pressed to cut the massive drone and keep the U-2 flying, with Congress repeatedly forcing the service to keep the drones flying. That all changed with the fiscal 2015 budget request released Tuesday.

"Last year, we were going to keep the U-2s and retire or shrink- wrap the Global Hawks,'' Defense Undersecretary Robert Hale said. Now, "the operating costs on the Global Hawk Block 30 have come down. It was always a close call. Now it comes down in favor of the Global Hawk. We'll keep them and gradually retire the U-2s."…"

link

Full article here.
link

Amicalement
Armand

I didn't know we were still using U2s.

Yep, saw one fly near home just the other day.

Of course, if/when the Chinese and/or other enemies hack the Global Hawk, they'll be wishing they'd never retired the U-2s.

If is a pretty big word.

Any system can be defeated if enough resources are expended to achieve that goal.

When I was in the Air Force, I was stationed in Saudi Arabia with a unit that flew the U2 way back in the 90s. I didn't work on the plane, I was a computer guy, but I was around it a lot. One of the things that I thought was funny was that they used a chase car to help the plane land. The car would follow the plane and call out speed and height as it descended because the pilot couldn't see the ground from the cockpit. I rode in the car a few times and it was a blast!

We weren't allowed to tell anyone what our unit did, but you would go into the city near the base and buy shirts that said "The Home of the U2" – I bought one and still have it today!

Of course, if/when the Chinese and/or other enemies hack the Global Hawk, they'll be wishing they'd never retired the U-2s.

Don't forget that the Russians were able to shoot a U2 down back in the 60s, so I would imagine that they are even more vulnerable now.

Yea, I suspect we miss the SR-71 even more.

is this reverse phycology (spelling?)
tell them we don't want x they keep x
tell them get rid of y they keep y