The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-jet engine, ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet; 21,000 m), all-weather intelligence gathering.[1] The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and communications purposes. Early versions of the U-2 were involved in several events through the Cold War, being flown over the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, and Cuba. In 1960, Gary Powers was shot down in a CIA U-2A over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile. Another U-2, piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., was lost in a similar fashion in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years. The newest models (TR-1, U-2R, U-2S) entered service in the 1980s. The current model, the U-2S, received its most recent technical upgrade in 2012. They have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations.

2016, 6th May, the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron will celebrate its 40thAnniversary, with a crew chief competition and an open house. The Blackcat squadron keeps three U-2s at Osan airbase in Korea, from where one of them takes off most days to monitor the reclusive but aggressive North Korean regime, and other situations in Asia. With the Hermit Kingdom engaged on a fresh round of nuclear and ballistic missile tests, the task has never been more important. Moreover, North Korea has been jamming GPS signals again recently – another challenge that I dare say that the U-2 pilots can manage. (I’m not so sure about Global Hawk UAV pilots coping with this from a remote ground station, however. Nor with the periodic high-altitude turbulence that is common in this part of the world). Why version 2? Because the 5th RS takes its name from the original U-2 Black Cat Squadron that was based in Taiwan from 1961 until 1974. That was a joint venture between the CIA and the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF). Brave nationalist Chinese pilots flew over mainland China, risking their lives as communist air defenses improved. Five U-2s were shot down before the overflights ceased in 1968. But peripheral missions along the China coast continued for another six years. Of the 28 ROCAF pilots who qualified to fly the Dragon Lady, 12 were killed on missions or in training accidents. You can read the full story in my book, 50 YEARS OF THE U-2.