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At the heart of the latest US and Chinese military tensions in the South China Sea is the flight of a spy plane from Washington to monitor Beijing exercises near the Paracel Islands (under Vietnamese sovereignty, under Chinese government Occupation no authorized).
According to the announcement of the US Pacific Air Force to the news agency Bloomberg This aircraft does not enter Chinese airspace.
“No country can unilaterally establish a no-fly zone,” the United States Air Force announced.
However, this action by the United States caused the Chinese military to fire up to four medium-range anti-ship ballistic missiles (initially reported as two) into the South China Sea as a warning.
The indescribable ability of U-2 Lady Dragon
The aircraft mentioned above is the U-2 spy plane. The U-2 flew from Osan Air Base in South Korea to near the Paracel Islands to supervise the Chinese drills. Osan Air Base, where the U-2 took off for the South China Sea last week, is home to the US Air Force’s 5th Reconnaissance Squadron. For nearly 45 years, this fleet has repeatedly deployed U -2 to collect images and safety signs about North Korea and China.
US U-2 spy plane. Photo: WIKIWAND
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump stepped up patrols of the South China Sea and challenged China’s illegal claims in these waters. One of the most widely used military assets in the South China Sea deployments is the U-2 spy plane.
What is the capacity of this plane?
According to the Bloomberg, the U-2 is also known as the Dragon Lady (roughly translated as Lady Dragon) by Lockheed Corp. (the predecessor of Lockheed Martin Corp.) originally manufactured and used by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) .
Unlike many current American weapon systems that undergo a decade-long development process, the U-2 took less than two years from proposed development to production in the mid-1950s.
Very important to the United States during the Cold War
The U-2 is a very famous American spy plane and used to play an important role in the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The U-2 was widely known around the world with the event of May 1, 1960, when CIA pilot Gary Powers flew it over Soviet airspace at an altitude of more than 21 km and was shot down. . The pilot was later released by the Soviet Union, but was also killed in a helicopter crash in 1977.
The U-2 was also deployed to Cuba in October 1962 by the United States to capture the first images of the missile sites that led to the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis is a Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba and the United States, beginning with the construction of Soviet Union bases and the deployment of medium-range nuclear ballistic missiles (capable of impacting multiple elements pepper in the US) to Cuba. The Soviet Union took this step after the United States sent ballistic missiles (capable of carrying nuclear warheads and fired at Russia) to England, Italy and Turkey.
U-2, America’s strategic weapon in the Cold War. Photo: LOCKHEED MARTIN
The U-2 is also deployed to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, the United States used the U-2 to track the movements of Iraqi troops and armored vehicles, assess the scale of the bombings, and monitor large-scale oil spills in the Gulf. Persian. After the Gulf War, the United States left several U-2s in Saudi Arabia to monitor Iraq’s compliance with the peace agreement.
Many generations of aircraft have not kept up
Currently, the United States Air Force has more than 30 U-2s.
It can be said that the US Air Force still prefers to use the U-2, although after the birth of this aircraft in the mid-1950s, the United States also developed many types of surveillance satellites and many other advanced technologies. . It can be said that this fact better shows the efficiency and resistance of this aircraft.
Former CIA director George Yenet once said that the development of the U-2 was a “revolution in the intelligence industry.” And until now, the U-2 is still considered a landmark achievement in the development of American espionage technology.
A U-2 crashed in California (USA) on September 20, 2016, killing a pilot. Still, this type of aircraft is still considered a landmark achievement in the development of US espionage technology Photo: HECTOR AMEZCUA, SACRAMENTO BEE / TNS
Last week’s flight of the U-2 to the South China Sea was another highlight of the spy plane’s superiority, which subsequent technological advances were unable to follow. For example, the Global Hawk drone can fly up to 34 hours and reach an altitude of more than 18 km, the US photographic and listening satellites operate in geostationary orbits.
The flight range of the U-2 is over 21 km. Because the U-2 flies at impressive altitudes, the pilots of this plane must wear flight suits that resemble those of astronauts.
The US Air Force recently intended to recall the U-2 aircraft, but Congress disagreed and was instead an upgrade plan. In April, the Lockheed Martin Corp. group received a $ 50 million contract to upgrade the electronics of the U-2 aircraft.
The current version of the U-2 is equipped with an intelligence transmitter that can provide signals of activity in areas of interest to the US.
(PLO) – China launched two medium-range missiles into the South China Sea, a move believed to warn of the US presence in this area.
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