The U-2 Is Still Flying But The Plane Is Nothing Like The Past

A U-2 Dragon Lady pilot at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, October 12, 2017. US Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson Jr

Business Insider: The U-2 reconnaissance plane has been snooping all over the world for more than 60 years, but today's Dragon Lady is nothing like the past

* The original U-2, developed in complete secrecy, took its first flight in August 1955.
* Sixty-four years later, the Dragon Lady is still prowling the skies, but with a whole new set of controls and sensors.

Since the mid-1950s, the US Air Force's U-2 Dragon Lady has been cruising the upper reaches of the atmosphere, snooping almost totally unnoticed.

While the mission is pretty much the same, the aircraft doing it are much different.

"The 'U' in U-2 stands for 'utility,' so a lot of people are like, 'OK, 1955, what are we doing in 2019, when we're flying F-35s and F-22s ... why are we flying the U-2 that was built in 1955?'" Maj. Travis "Lefty" Patterson, a U-2 pilot, said during an event hosted by the Air Force in May at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City.

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WNU Editor: There are still quite a few U-2s flying ....  

.... The Air Force currently has about 30 of the single-seat U-2 for missions and four of the two-seat TU-2, which is used for training, based at Beale Air Force Base.