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Lockheed U-2A, -66701, 4028 SRS, 4080 SRW, Laughlin AFB, Texas

Lockheed WU-2A of the USAF, -66715. Note sampling scoop below rear of cockpit

Lockheed U-2R

Lockheed U-2R. The dorsal radome does not house radar,but contains satellite communications equipment for rapid transfer of information

Lockheed U-2C of CIA, with temporary civil code whilst being serviced by Lockheed

The story of the U-2 began late in 1952 when USAF Major J. Seaberg realized that the high-altitude performance of the latest turbojets could be exploited in a strategic reconnaissance aircraft able to fly above any intercepting fighters. Three companies began studying the proposal - Fiarchild (the M-165); Bell (the X-16) and Martin (the RB-57D, a low-risk modification of the B-57, with extended wings).

Lockheed's Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson heard unofficially of the program and began working on a design of his own, which he presented to Seaberg in May 1954.

The design, designated CL-282, was essentially a Mach-2 fighter fuselage (similar to the F-104) with long, high aspect ratio wings. Undercarriage at that time consisted of a skid. When its original engine was replaced by a Pratt & Whitney J57, it looked promising. When the CL-282 was showing progress in late 1955, Bell shelved their X-16 project. After a certain amount of political maneuvering, Lockheed was contracted to build 20 aircraft, to be designated U-2, the 'Utility' designation clouding its actual role.

The project was allocated the codename Aquatone by its sponsors, the CIA, and development was carried out under the utmost secrecy.

Lockheed tried to save weight on the aircraft at every point. There was no ejector seat; the wings were fragile, and the tail was held on by only three bolts. The company prepared for a secret test program, and their chief test pilot, assigned to find a suitable location, recommended Groom Dry Lake in southern Nevada. Work began on a runway and facilities, and when the first aircraft was ready it was packed into two C-124 transports, and taken to Groom, where it was assembled.

The prototype was named Angel; it first flew on 1st August, 1955. The CIA discovered (according to 1978 Freedom of Information & Privacy Act releases) that "commercial pilots and air traffic controllers began reporting a large increase in UFO sightings".

By the end of the year four of the new aircraft resided at Groom Dry Lake. Most of these early U-2s were not built at the Burbank "Skunk Works", but at a small, secret factory at Oildale, disguised as a tire depot. These first aircraft achieved incredible altitudes in ensuing tests.

Early in 1956 the first CIA pilots arrived, disguised as Lockheed employees, ready to put the "Angel" to use. In April 1955 two of the U-2s were ferried to RAF Lakenheath, England. Their cover unit was WRSP-1 (1st Weather Reconnaissance Squadron), but their flights would take them over the Soviet Union.

The two U-2s moved from Lakenheath to Wiesbaden, West Germany, and after a short run over East Germany and Poland on 19th June, the CIA launched its first over fight of the USSR on Independence Day, July 4th, 1956. It was a complete success, the aircraft taking high-quality photographs as it cruised over Moscow, Leningrad and the Baltic coast.

With its position established, other U-2 units developed, the next being stationed at Incirlik, Turkey. The USAF managed to acquire some early generation U-2s, which, designated U-2AW, monitored fallout from Soviet nuclear tests by means of a sampler, the scoop protruding from the under-fuselage, aft of the cockpit. The USAF's U-2s saw active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. There, the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (which became 100 SRW) lost one to an SA-2 missile. From 1964 the type was in use over Vietnam.

As surface-to-air missile performance improved, the service ceiling of the U-2 unfortunately decreased, with the addition of greater loads of sensors and an ejector seat. In 1959 the U-2B was introduced, with a more powerful J35 engine. The extra engine and fuel weight increased the stall speed at altitude to a mere 4.6 mph (7.4 km/h) below the U-2's maximum allowable speed.

Whilst a Mach-3 capable aircraft, the A-12, was ordered in 1959, U-2 over flights of the USSR continued. The U-2's good fortune ended when, on 1st May 1960, a U-2B piloted by Francis Gary Powers was downed over Sverdlovsk by a missile. In the face of opposition, over flights by American pilots were banned, and the CIA and USAF were obliged to limit subsequent over flights to reconnaissance of non-Soviet territory, and to an increasing ELINT and COMINT (electronic and communications intelligence) role.

Most U-2s served with the USAF by 1964, although some operated in Chinese Nationalist air force (RoCAF) colors. These ran joint operations with the CIA, the American-trained Taiwanese pilots over flying the mainland, and particularly the Chinese nuclear facilities. Four U-2s being lost over the mainland, flights were later limited to coastal missions, using U-2Rs. These officially ended in August 1974 with improved Chinese-American relations.

As the original U-2 numbers were depleted by losses into the mid-1960s, so the intelligence demand rose, and Lockheed produced an enlarged and upgraded version. The first six new aircraft went to the CIA, and the next six to the USAF. After its first flight in August 1967, the new U-2R version proved its all-round superiority over the early aircraft, especially in payload, ceiling, range and landing characteristics.

CIA aircraft were once more active from world-wide bases from 1968 to 1974, when all CIA U-2s passed to the Air Force (with some, designated ER-2, also operated by NASA). The USAF U-2Rs continued to operated during the Vietnam War, mainly from Thailand. They took part in the Linebacker raids and the Senior Book covert flights over mainland China. After intensive use in Vietnam, the U-2s moved to 95 SRW at Beale AFB, California following the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.

In the late 1960s, Lockheed made a number of attempts to find other uses for the U-2 design. A maritime surveillance version for the US Navy was never taken up, and a remotely piloted version, a little ahead of its time, was not to proceed.

In November 1969, a U-2 was tested for carrier operations. Though the tests, using three early U-2s modified and designated U-2G, were a success, the U-2 operated only once from a carrier. In May 1964 a single U-2 from USS Ranger was used to gather intelligence on French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll. The U-2R was also subsequently tested for carrier use, but no operations were flown, it being considered as too disruptive to other carrier air wing operations. All the same, CIA pilots remained carrier qualified for some years.

Lockheed U-2R data:
POWERPLANT: One Pratt & Whitney J7S-P-138 turbojet, 17,000 lb st(75.82 kN). MAX. TAKEOFF WEIGHT: 41,300 lb (18733 kg) SENSOR LOAD: 3,000 lb (1361 kg) WING SPAN: 103 ft 0 in (31.39 m) LENGTH: 62 ft 9 in (19.13 m) HEIGHT: 16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)	MAXIMUM CRUISING SPEED: Over 430 mph (692 km/h) at 70,000 ft (21335 m) NEVER-EXCEED SPEED: Mach 0.8 MAX. CLIMB AT SEA LEVEL: About 5,000 ft (1525 m) per minute OPERATIONAL CEILING: Estimated at 90,000 ft (27430 m) MAXIMUM RANGE: About 6,250 miles (10060 km) ENDURANCE: 12 hours ARMAMENT: None

Due to operational losses, the U-2R fleet was down to ten aircraft in 1975. By the mid-1970s a high-altitude, long endurance platform was required for the USAF's stand-off target location systems. The pilot-less designs available proved problematic, amd in 1977 the U-2R was put forward as a substitute. In 1978-79 production of the U-2R resumed, the 'new' aircraft being named TR-1 (TR - Tactical Reconnaissance), supposedly to escape from its dubious past. It was a move intended largely to appease the British government, as most of the aircraft would be British-based.

The TR-1 first flew on 1st August 1981, and the TR-1B trainer on 28 February 1983. The TR-1s continued to operate from Britain, as had the U-2s, with a unit at Mildenhall, Suffolk operating the TR-1 and SR-71 between 1979 and 1983. Then the 17th Reconnaissance Wing was established at Alconbury, its TR-1 complement building from February 1983 to a total of 14 aircraft by March 1985. The last TR-1A, serial 80-1099, was accepted by the USAF on 3rd October 1989.

They played a major role in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In October 1991 the TR-1 designation was dropped, and the fleet reverted to U-2R or U-2RT (later, TU-2R). The fleet has undergone upgrades, including the fitting of F118-GE-101 turbofans, to produce the U-2S or TU-2S (two-seater). The U-2S is the last of the series to see service, most recently over Kosovo from bases at Istres, France and Sigonella, Italy.

The U-2R/S continued in service with the 9th RW (Reconnaissance Wing) whose headquarters are at Beal AFB, Ca., in the late 1990s. Stations have included, apart from Beale itself, Osan AB (Korea), RAF Akrotiri (Cyprus), Taif AB (Saudi Arabia) and Istres AB (France).

 

 

Background Notes

 

Groom Lake / Nellis AFB

Groom Dry Lake, with its US Air Force base, is within what has become popularly known as "Area 51". This is a large area of government land about 95 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. It adjoins the Nevada Test Site and the Nellis Air Force Range. The name "Area 51" supposedly came from a designation appearing on an old map of the Nevada Test Site. The lake bed centre is at 115°47'30"W and 37°16'30"N.

Development programs for the U-2, A-12, SR-71 and F-117 aircraft were all carried out here under tight secrecy. Indeed, the Groom Dry Lake facility was intially built in the early 1950s for development of the U-2.

Restricted public access meant that the first image of Groom Lake seen by Americans was one taken by a Russian satellite.

However, Groom's existence had been revealed as far back as 3 May, 1956, when NACA (now NASA) published photographs of the U-2, describing it as "a weather research aircraft which has been flying from Watertown Strip in southern Nevada" (Watertown being the formal name given the Groom Lake base).

The land was finally officially withdrawn from public use in June 1958. At that time it was identified as "Area 51" (all neighbouring areas were similarly numbered) with that label being officially dropped in the late 1970s.

With development of the high-performance Lockheed A-12 from 1959, the restricted airspace around Groom was extended. The word was put out that the facility was now used for radar testing; partially true, as a radar test facility had been built to test the A-12's radar profile.

By the mid-1970s, the USAF's 6513rd Test Squadron was operating Soviet combat aircraft out of the lakebed strip. The Red Flag exercises, out of nearby Nellis AFB, used a good part of the area. Soviet radars and SAMs dotted the hills and Aggressor Squadron F-5s imitated Soviet fighters. Red Flag crews referred to Groom as "Red Square". As later, more exotic projects developed - Have Blue, Tacit Blue, and the F-117 and B-2 - the title became "Dreamland".

The immense secrecy and visible security around the "Area 51" complex - which in fact consists of several distinct facilities - has attracted aviation enthusiasts, as well as UFO and conspiracy buffs, some of whom speak of "back engineering of alien technology" in depths below "Area 51", as if secret aircraft development, Red Flag exercises and live firing were not enough of a security and safety reason to keep curious folk at a distance.

Notable as a source of "Area 51" data and gossip has been the now defunct "Groom Lake Desert Rat", once electronically published from the small town of Rachel, Nev. Its content managed to walk a narrow line between being a sensible social watchdog, while at the same time appealing to the UFO/conspiracy audience. It therefore continues to circulate on the Net, apparently at no fixed address, but not hard to find if searched for by name.