U2 plane

This image from April 2002 shows the first U-2S Dragon Lady modified under the Reconnaissance Avionics Maintainability Program over Tehachapi, California, on a test flight. Photo by Denny Lombard

U2 Spy plane with the Earth as its backdrop

Mission: Long-range Strategic Reconnaissance

The U-2 can reach 60,000 feet faster than any other #ISR aircraft today: https://t.co/tOGAXXCVXc

USAF Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane.

U-2 Dragon Lady

The U-2 can execute surveillance and reconnaissance missions from altitudes of more than 70,000 feet. Learn more about the U-2 Dragon Lady: www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/u2.html

The view from a U2 Dragon Lady spy plane photographed by Commercial Photographer Blair Bunting. The image is part of the series

The Pentagon, smitten with the Global Hawk drone, had been ready to ground the U-2 fleet for good. But the latest Air Force budget proposal tells a different tale.

And if that's not Skynet enough for ya, Britten-Norman is working to make the BN-2 Islander fly autonomously

U.S. Air Force models U-2C and U-2F spy plane aircraft flight manual from May 10, 1967.

Explore Jim Mumaw's 3609 photos on Flickr!

The Pentagon, smitten with the Global Hawk drone, had been ready to ground the U-2 fleet for good. But the latest Air Force budget proposal tells a different tale.