Lockheed U-2 variant
Lockheed U-2 U-2R
A thorough redesign of the aircraft: the airframe grew by close to 30 per cent, fuel capacity rose and large underwing sensor pods appeared. It first flew on 28 August 1967 and twelve were delivered between 1967 and 1968, retaining the U-2C’s J75-P-13B. The TR-1A and, after re-engining, the U-2S were all built on this airframe.
- 12
- Units built
History
A new aircraft under the old name
The U-2R, first flown on 28 August 1967, is far larger and more capable than the original aircraft: a longer fuselage and greater span, an airframe nearly 30 per cent bigger, and much more fuel. Its most recognisable external feature is the pair of large instrumentation superpods under the wings. It kept the Pratt & Whitney J75-P-13B introduced on the U-2C, and both its handling and its sensor payload improved markedly over the early versions. Twelve were delivered between 1967 and 1968.
Service
In 1969 the type was trialled from the carrier USS America. In August 1970 the National Reconnaissance Office deployed two U-2Rs to cover the Israeli-Egyptian conflict under the code name EVEN STEVEN. In June 1976 the U-2s of the 100 SRW moved to the 9 SRW at Beale AFB, California, where they worked alongside the SR-71. In 1993 an Iraqi MiG-25 tried and failed to intercept a U-2 taking part in UN operations over Iraq.
Scientific work
The airframe also carried first-rate science. In 1977 a U-2R was fitted with an upward-looking window for astronomical observation of the cosmic microwave background: that experiment was the first to measure the motion of the galaxy relative to the background conclusively, and set an upper limit on the rotation of the universe as a whole. In 1989 a U-2R of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing’s Detachment 5, flying from Patrick AFB in Florida, successfully photographed a Space Shuttle launch to help NASA identify the cause of the tile loss found on the first post-Challenger missions.
One designation for the fleet
In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, all TR-1s were redesignated U-2R for uniformity. From 1994 those same aircraft began receiving the General Electric F118 turbofan and became U-2S.