![]() The U-2 is based at Beale Air Force Base in California, but it rotates worldwide. (The Air Force announced recently that it would change the training process.) Pilots train on one of five two-seat aircraft designated as TU-2S. But it remains in use as one of the US's premier surveillance aircraft.Īll U-2s have been upgraded, adding a new engine that resulted in it being designated the U-2S. The spy plane's early history is marked with two high-profile blemishes - a 1960 shootdown over the USSR, which led to the capture of pilot Gary Francis Powers, and a 1962 shootdown over Cuba, which killed pilot Rudolf Anderson Jr. In one mission, it can map all of Iraq.īuilt in complete secrecy, the U-2A first flew in August 1955. At 70,000 feet, the curvature of the earth gives it a field of vision of about 500 miles. As of the beginning of 2016, the Air Force has 18 MC-130Hs.Īlong with the B-52, the U-2 is one of the only Air Force aircraft introduced early in the Cold War that's still in use.ĭespite its age, its prowess is unquestioned. MC-130Hs were also used to seize an airfield in southern Afghanistan for ground operations there in 2001, and in 2003, an MC-130H was the first US aircraft to land at Baghdad International Airport. The MC-130 first flew in 1966 and has operated around the world - an MC-130E landed in the Iranian desert in April 1980 to support Operation Eagle Claw, a failed attempt to rescue Americans being held by Iran. It also has terrain-following and terrain-avoidance radars that allow it to fly as low as 250 feet in poor weather. The Combat Talon II is based on the C-130, with structural changes that include a stronger tail to allow high-speed and low-signature airdrops. Secondary missions include psychological operations and helicopter and vertical lift air refueling. The MC-130H Combat Talon II provides infiltration, exfiltration, and resupply of special operations forces and equipment in hostile or denied territory. ![]() The F-35 has also become the most expensive weapons program in history, and hiccups during its development process have not improved its perception. There is also a carrier variant - meant to replace the Navy's F/A-18s - and a short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant, which is meant to replace the US Marine Corps' AV-8B Harriers and F/A-18s, as well as the UK's Harriers and Sea Harriers. The F-35A is meant carry out air-to-air combat and ground-attack missions, replacing the F-16 and the A-10, while bringing next-generation stealth technology, enhanced awareness, and reduced vulnerability to the US and allies, several of whom have already received their versions of the fighter. The US, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Australia were involved in the F-35's development. The F-35A Lightning II is the Air Force's second and newest fifth-generation fighter, reaching initial operational capability in August 2016.
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