A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE U-2 SPYPLANE
CHRIS POCOCK,
AVIATION AUTHOR, ‘50 YEARS OF THE U-2’ AND ‘DRAGON LADY TODAY’
PROGRAMME INTRO
When the U-2 first took off in 1955, no-one involved in the top-secret project thought that this unique reconnaissance aircraft would still be flying today. The long story of the Dragon Lady is amazing, but complex. The early years overflying the Soviet Union under CIA sponsorship, were followed by US Air Force flights over Cuba during the Missile Crisis, and then over southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
There were many epic missions over Communist China, flown by nationalist pilots from Taiwan. Then the U-2 was improved, enlarged and put back into production - twice. It led the real-time recce revolution with data links and high-tech sensors. In the 1990s, the U-2 played a key role in Operation Desert Storm, and then over Bosnia and Kosovo, and most recently over Afghanistan and Iraq.
Our guest speaker, Chris Pocock, has been researching the subject for over 30 years, and has written four books. Gerald Haines, the former CIA Chief Historian commented that Chris is the foremost authority on the history of the U-2. In this lecture, the audience will hear all the insights behind the Dragon Lady.
CPD | CPD certificates of attendance will be endorsed for CEng, IEng or EngTech registration.
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