ixty-three years after its first flight,
the U-2 – in its latest U-2S iteration- serves with three squadrons
of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing (RW) at
Beale Air Force Base, California. Today,
the USAF operates 28 single-seat U-2S and
four TU-2S trainers, which are allocated
to the 1st, 5th and 99th Reconnaissance
Squadrons (RS) of the 9th RW. As well as
their home base of Beale, the ‘Dragon Lady’
fleet is forward-deployed to Osan Air Base
in South Korea, Al Dhafra in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
The 99th RS, subordinated to the 9th
Operations Group (OG), is now the major
U-2 operator. When this article was being
prepared, the 99th RS had 19 examples in
service, of which around 15 are available for
operations at any given time. Another two
aircraft were reportedly undergoing depot
maintenance. The squadron keeps five jets
deployed at Al Dhafra and Akrotiri, the latter
as the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance
Squadron (ERS). Each deployment to Al
Dhafra and Akrotiri lasts a maximum of three
or eight months respectively and the aircraft
stop over at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire,
during their transitions. At the UK base
the U-2s are supported by Beale’s enroute recovery team (ERT), which functions
like a pit crew at this ‘midway point’. The
ERT ensures the aircraft is prepared for
the flight to its next destination. A similar
facility operates at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-
Hickam, Hawaii, to prepare U-2s for their
transitions to and from Osan AB.Dragon Lady at war
S
68-10331Built as U-2R, delivered February 17, 1968
68-10336 Built as U-2R, delivered August 20, 1968
68-10337Built as U-2R, delivered September 9, 1968
80-1066
80-1067
80-1070
80-1071
80-1073
80-1076
80-1079
80-108080-1081
80-1083
80-1085
80-1086
80-1087
80-1089
80-1090
80-1093
80-1094
80-1096
80-1099 Stored at Robins AFB, Georgia as of 2018Serial Notes Serial NotesU-2 in the Middle East
66 // MAY 2018 #362 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com99th RS U-2 fl eet, 2017