Aging U-2 Will Fight On Into the Next Decade 266
Hugh Pickens writes "For more than half a century, the CIA and US military have relied on a skinny, sinister-looking black jet, first designed during the Eisenhower administration at Lockheed's famed Skunk Works in Burbank, headed by legendary chief engineer Clarence L. 'Kelly' Johnson, to penetrate deep behind enemy lines for vital intelligence-gathering missions. Although the plane is perhaps best known for being shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 with the subsequent capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 continues to play a critical role in national security today, hunting Al Qaeda forces in the Middle East. The fleet of 33 U-2s was supposed to be replaced in the next few years with RQ-4 Global Hawks, but the Pentagon now proposes delaying the U-2's retirement as part of Defense Department cutbacks." (Read on, below.)
Hugh Pickens continues: "The Global Hawk drone, costing an estimated cost of $176 million each, has 'priced itself out of the niche (PDF), in terms of taking pictures in the air,' says Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. 'That's a disappointment for us, but that's the fate of things that become too expensive in a resource-constrained environment.' The Pentagon has determined that operating the U-2 will be cheaper for the foreseeable future but it won't disclose how much operating the U-2s will cost for security reasons. 'It's incredible to think that these planes are flying,' says Francis Gary Powers Jr., Powers' son and founder of the Cold War Museum in Warrenton, Va. 'You'd think another spy plane, or satellite or drone would come along by now to replace it.'"
At first glance... (Score:5, Funny)
When I first saw the headline, I thought they were referring to the band.
Look, all rockers age (Score:5, Funny)
this doesn't mean they still can't put on a good show. "Aging U-2 Will Fight On Into the Next Decade" is just an inflammatory headline. Bono and The Edge may have a few wrinkles now but they got...
what?
oh, never mind
Hard to Believe (Score:4, Funny)
They better retire them soon (Score:5, Funny)
I was once taken to a secret testing facility in a place Where the Streets Have No Name, to examine the current state of the U2. I was not impressed with its performance. At first it had a Rattle and Hum, and after extensive testing exploded in an Unforgettable Fire. There'll be Helter Skelter if they don't get this under control.
I asked the official who was giving me the tour what they planned on doing about it. He said "we plan to replace it, but we Still Haven't Found What We're Looking For". However, he continued to show Pride in the current model.
I didn't like doing this on a Sunday, Bloody Sunday, so I told him I was leaving for a Discotheque. With or Without You.
Thanks guys (Score:5, Funny)
I just spent 90 minutes reading about aircraft on wikipedia!
Re:Wait, what? (Score:3, Funny)
The Department of Defense is making cutbacks? I can't believe what I'm hearing!
Well, "cutback" in a certain, culturally specific sense. What we're talking about is a DoD "cutback". A DoD cutback involves keeping one program on indefinite life support while the scope and costs of its replacement swell to grotesque, unrecognizable proportions. A DoD cutback is roughly like changing horses in midstream, only we're expecting the horse we ride in on to give birth to the horse we intend to ride out on while we're in the drink.
Yeah, thanks a lot (Score:5, Funny)
That's 10 minutes I'll never get back, you bastards!
Re:Just like the mars rover they keep working (Score:3, Funny)
Actually No.. I think.
Buying cheap crap for chain is not what they do. The crap for chain is quite expensive if you buy it at Boeing for example.
The falls apart real fast has happened in Iraq for sure and latterly in Afghanistan too but which other areas? I think we are all wondering about the "now why" and I think that is a valid point.
Re:There's nothing to change (Score:5, Funny)
Materials science is the only place left to go. We saw the future, and it was unaffordable. Flying cars? Jetpacks? Supersonic airliners? All do-able. All prohibitively expensive and inefficient and unsuited for mass productions.
How arrogant are these apes. This one here claims to know so much of their limitations, yet still can't figure out how the basic forces of gravity or electromagnetism work at the subatomic level. No no, It's True; I'm not making this up! You must read this, It's hilarious!
....
It writes of unaffordability and knows nothing of different planetary economic models, even though they've just barely to explore this system. They still have a STOCK MARKET that dictates worth based on feelings instead of instantaneous financial reports! Ha haha!
Their transportation is yet slow and ground based because they are all still trying to drive the machines themselves! This one believes that personal flying systems are unattainable even though one of his kind has build himself one [youtube.com] from mass produced model airplane parts! [wikipedia.org] (Ridiculously, it's still controlled via organic pilot.)
They've barely begun to harvest their Sun's power; Can't even leverage their own planet's magnetic field or even LIGHTNING for that matter!
With this sort of thinking they'll never join the races of the stars... Let us leave the primitives be, but first ensure the probe records all instances of their "How it's Made" broadcast for it's the only anthropologically valuable transmission.