Post by MilitaryAirshows on Jun 24, 2005 12:14:30 GMT
U2 MAKES SOLE EUROPEAN APPEARANCE
The U-2, the legendary US spy plane which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, will make its only European appearance of 2005 at the Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on July 16-17.
This seldom seen strategic reconnaissance aircraft, based at Beale Air Force Base in California, will take part in the airshow’s operational theme Surveillance 05 – Eyes In The Sky’.
Since 1955, the U-2 has been providing high-altitude, all-weather surveillance and reconnaissance for the CIA, NASA and the US Air Force. The U-2 project was initiated in the early 1950s by the CIA, which desperately wanted accurate information on the Soviet Union. It was thought an aircraft that operated at an altitude excess of 70,000ft would be hard to detect and impossible to shoot down.
In its early days, the 'U' designation, normally reserved for an innocuous utility aircraft, was used as part of a campaign to keep the aircraft a mystery from prying eyes. It was not until 1 May 1960 that the world learned the truth about the U-2 after one flown by Francis Gary Powers was shot down deep within the Soviet Union. Though Powers was later returned to the US in exchange for a Soviet spy, the U-2 never entered Soviet airspace again. In 1962 the aircraft proved vital when its pilots discovered the placement of nuclear missile bases in Cuba leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The U-2, which is commonly known as the ‘Dragon Lady’, operated during the Vietnam War, in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm (1991) and in Bosnia, during Operation Deliberate Force (1995). It is currently believed to be operating in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Air Tattoo Director Tim Prince said: “The fact that the US Air Force is displaying a U-2 at the Tattoo and nowhere else in Europe shows just how strong the relationship is between our two nations.”
The U-2, the legendary US spy plane which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, will make its only European appearance of 2005 at the Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on July 16-17.
This seldom seen strategic reconnaissance aircraft, based at Beale Air Force Base in California, will take part in the airshow’s operational theme Surveillance 05 – Eyes In The Sky’.
Since 1955, the U-2 has been providing high-altitude, all-weather surveillance and reconnaissance for the CIA, NASA and the US Air Force. The U-2 project was initiated in the early 1950s by the CIA, which desperately wanted accurate information on the Soviet Union. It was thought an aircraft that operated at an altitude excess of 70,000ft would be hard to detect and impossible to shoot down.
In its early days, the 'U' designation, normally reserved for an innocuous utility aircraft, was used as part of a campaign to keep the aircraft a mystery from prying eyes. It was not until 1 May 1960 that the world learned the truth about the U-2 after one flown by Francis Gary Powers was shot down deep within the Soviet Union. Though Powers was later returned to the US in exchange for a Soviet spy, the U-2 never entered Soviet airspace again. In 1962 the aircraft proved vital when its pilots discovered the placement of nuclear missile bases in Cuba leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The U-2, which is commonly known as the ‘Dragon Lady’, operated during the Vietnam War, in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm (1991) and in Bosnia, during Operation Deliberate Force (1995). It is currently believed to be operating in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Air Tattoo Director Tim Prince said: “The fact that the US Air Force is displaying a U-2 at the Tattoo and nowhere else in Europe shows just how strong the relationship is between our two nations.”