Another budget request, another plan to retire the U-2. But don’t count on it. In the small print of the USAF’s Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) presidential budget request, there is a statement that the Dragon Lady will be “divested” in Fiscal Year 2026. But there is a glaring omission. Unlike previous budget requests, there is … Continue reading U-2 RETIREMENT – HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Global Hawk
IN THE FY2021 BUDGET, THE U-2 SURVIVES, GLOBAL HAWK CHOPPED
The Dragon Lady has survived yet another defense budget review. Although its future was examined as the Pentagon crafted the FY2021 request, the program survived intact. Instead, all 20 of the Global Hawk Block 30s that serve alongside the U-2 at Beale, are to be dumped. Ten Block 40 versions of the UAV based at … Continue reading IN THE FY2021 BUDGET, THE U-2 SURVIVES, GLOBAL HAWK CHOPPED
THE U-2, THE GLOBAL HAWK, AND PENETRATING ISR
The USAF’s draft budget for Fiscal Year 2021 is grinding its way through the Pentagon, and will emerge into the public domain next spring. Once again, the U-2’s future is under scrutiny, despite a previous decision to keep the Dragon Lady in service until at least the mid-2020s. Perhaps that is inevitable, given that the … Continue reading THE U-2, THE GLOBAL HAWK, AND PENETRATING ISR
Dragon Lady Today 