Lockheed Martin is developing the successor to the legendary U-2 spy plane of the US military. Second Flightglobal, the division of experimental programs of the American company, known as "Skunk Works", would already be in the planning phase.
Knowing the industry jargon, this means that some demonstrator might even already be in the air ("Mom, Mom, I saw a UFO"). And the words of Lockheed's head of strategic development, Scott Winstead, do nothing but confirm our assumptions.
"Think of the U-2. Now imagine it as an aircraft with very low observability, much larger, much more powerful. We are planning a real next-gen ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) platform ".
Having entered into service in the 1950, the U-2 will be withdrawn from service in the 2019 (it is therefore easy to hypothesize with some reasonableness that something is flying in the sky, just over three years after the new platform entered service). In fact, it is one of the most long-lived planes in aviation history.
The U-2, a high-flying manned surveillance aircraft, can fly for twelve hours at 70 thousand feet, twice the share of a commercial aircraft. The platform transports 13 miles above the surface of the earth, two and a half tons of sensors, the most advanced in the world. Reaching such high altitudes helps make it an extremely effective reconnaissance platform.
It was designed in secret by the Skunk Works of Lockheed Martin during the Cold War to locate missile threats in Russia. The design of the aircraft was so extraordinary that it remained a priceless military platform for six decades.
The U-2 - conclude from the company - he is always on duty, at any time of day or night.
U-2 detachments are practically all over the world.
(in the photo a U-2 Dragon Lady - Lockheed Martin)
