U2 - High-flying American U2 Spy Planes can watch a site for hours

Baghdad, Iraq - A Reconnaissance Spy Plane

Slipping through the skies, the camera spotted double fences and watchtowers at an unexpected location, unusually heavy traffic at another site, and a new advanced ventilation system on a rooftop at a third. Following such leads from the American U-2 spy plane - our "eyes in the sky" - U.N. inspectors in the 1990's uncovered hidden corners of Iraq's advanced weapons establishment, swooped in and demolished them.

Lockheed Martin U-2 Spy Plane - "Our eye in the sky"

The U-2 Spy Plane is a gangly albatross of a jet - has been used by the United States for reconnaissance since 1955.
It has a highly unusual design, with a 103-foot, glider like wingspan on a 63-foot-long fuselage, its 1,000 square feet of wing area keeping if aloft in the thin air of the stratosphere.

The U-2 Spy Plane can fly more than 7,000 miles for 12 hours, giving it the ability to slowly circle over a reconnaissance target for hours at a time, firing away with its advanced cameras, and its electro-optic, infrared and radar-imagery devices. It can also pick up communications data from below.
The manned aircraft provides high-resolution imagery and electronic intelligence at high altitudes.


The U-2 Spy Plane Specs

Length: 63 feet
Wingspan: 103 feet
Height: 16 feet
Maximum cruising speed: 430 mph
Ceiling: 90,000 feet
Range: 3,000 miles
Maximum Endurance: 12 hours

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