America's U-2 Spy planes Are Still Flying

The U-2 spy plane was once slated for retirement in 2015 but may fight on into the next decade. Above, a U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane flies in this undated file photo. (U.S. Air Force/Getty Images / February 10, 2003)

U.S. May Rely On Aging U-2 Spy Planes Longer Than Expected -- L.A. Times

The Pentagon has proposed delaying a plan to replace the U-2s with RQ-4 Global Hawk drones because of Defense Department cutbacks.

Wars have come and gone. But for more than half a century, the CIA and U.S. military have relied on a skinny sinister-looking black jet to go deep behind enemy lines for vital intelligence-gathering missions.

The high-flying U-2 spy plane was first designed during the Eisenhower administration to breach the iron curtain and, as engineers said, snap "picture postcards for Ike" of hidden military strongholds in the Soviet Union.

And although the plane is perhaps best known for being shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960 and the subsequent capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 continues to play a critical role in national security today, hunting Al Qaeda forces in the Middle East. The aging cold warrior once slated for retirement in 2015 may fight on into the next decade.

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My Comment: If it works, don't fix it. Still .... it's strange to rely on an airplane that is "basically" 60 years old.