Message posted by Vahe Demirjian (Member since 04/28/2022) on May 07, 2024 at 13:53:00 PST:
The US Air Force has retired three U-2s over the past four months (serials 80-1065, 80-1066 and 80-1085). The first U-2R to be built (serial 68-10329) and the other three remaining first-generation U-2Rs (serials 68-10331, 68-10336, and 68-10337) still flying could the next U-2s to be retired because they are more than 50 years old compared to other U-2s in active service. Given that eight of the TR-1As on order were completed as U-2Rs, a gradual retirement of all the U-2s built as TR-1s also may be cost-saving with respect to keeping the RQ-170 Sentinel fleet airworthy, since the RQ-170 occupies the tactical reconnaissance role once utilized by the TR-1 variant of the U-2 and which the Northrop Tacit Blue would have carried out had it been ordered into production. The US Air Force could end up with just eight or ten operational U-2s in the late 2020s given that one of the currently operational U-2s is fitted with artificial intelligence.
In Reply to: Re: U-2 retirement posted by Pinyon72 on August 12, 2023 at 1:01:51 PST:
Replies: