The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is an American single-jet engine, 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, high-altitude (70,000 feet, 21,300 meters), all-weather intelligence gathering.

Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953, it was approved in 1954, and its first test flight was in 1955. It was flown during the Cold War 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 (SAM). Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down in a U-2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

U-2s have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations. The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, scientific research, and communications purposes. The U-2 is one of a handful of aircraft types to have served the USAF for over 50 years, along with the Boeing B-52 and Boeing KC-135. The newest models (TR-1, U-2R, U-2S) entered service in the 1980s, and the latest model, the U-2S, had a technical upgrade in 2012.

Pictured here is a gorgeous 1:72 scale diecast replica of a United States USAF Lockheed U-2R "Dragon Lady" Reconnaissance Aircraft that was attached to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, then deployed to Fairford AFB, England, during the 1990s. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 17-1/4-inches
Length: 10-1/2-inches

Release Date: April 2022

Historical Account: "Operation Allied Force" - In the early 1990s, the 9th Reconnaissance Wing's personnel and aircraft provided reconnaissance coverage during the crises in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Later, wing U-2s verified compliance with the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the immediate crisis. Then, when Serbia began the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanians in Kosovo, NATO responded with the bombing campaign Operation Allied Force. During Operation Allied Force, 9th Reconnaissance Wing U-2s provided over 80% of the targeting intelligence for NATO forces. NATO leadership credited the U-2 with the destruction of 39 surface-to-air missile sites and 28 aircraft of the Serbian military.

President Bill Clinton exercised his line-item veto power at the time, however, and eliminated the Congressionally approved $39 million allocated to the SR-71 program in the fiscal year (FY) 1998 budget. Detachment 2 immediately ceased operations. The United States Supreme Court later declared presidential line-item veto authority unconstitutional. The future of the SR-71 program remained uncertain. Congress did not include funding for the program in its FY 1999 budget. On April 7th, 1998, Air Combat Command received a message from the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force ordering cessation of SR-71 operations and disposal of all related assets. The last member of Detachment 2 left Edwards AFB, CA on January 10th, 1999. Upon transfer of the two remaining air frames to Air Force Materiel Command, Air Combat Command declared the SR-71 retirement complete as of July 15th, 1999. Air Combat Command inactivated Detachment 2, 9th Operations Group, Edwards AFB, CA on August 1st, 1999.