buglerbilly
24-03-10, 05:42 AM
From The Times March 24, 2010
U2 eye-in-the-sky spy plane wins new lease of life in Afghanistan
Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent
The U2 spy aircraft, famed for high-altitude Cold War espionage missions over the Soviet Union, is enjoying a new lease of life in Afghanistan as the best spotter of Taleban roadside bombs in the allies’ arsenal.
Four years ago the Pentagon wanted to retire the aircraft, which took its first test flight more than half a century ago. Since being fitted with new sensors and communications equipment, however, it has become an indispensable eye-in-the-sky for Nato forces.
From its 70,000ft (21,000m) cruising altitude its high-resolution camera is capable of spotting slight changes in the country’s dry mud paths where the Taleban often bury improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
US military officials said that in the lead-up to the recent operation to seize Marjah in central Helmand from the Taleban, a U2 — nicknamed Dragon Lady because of its long wingspan — spotted almost 150 suspected bombs dug into roads and at planned helicopter landing sites around the town.
Its success in this new role is a remarkable transformation in the fortunes of the U2. It was designed in secrecy and began flying spy missions in 1956. In April 1960 a U2 piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union and, during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the aircraft uncovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Although it has been used in every major conflict involving the US since then, the Pentagon believed that it had outlived its usefulness and wanted it replaced — until Congress saved it from military obsolescence.
The U2 has acquired a reputation in Afghanistan for spotting bombs that the ground patrols might miss. The Taleban have taken to throwing water over sites where IEDs have been buried which, after being baked in the sun, helps to remove signs of soil disturbance.
“Earth disturbance is one crucial way of uncovering buried IEDs. The U2 can take a series of images and then check one lot of pixels against another lot to detect changes above and below the surface,” a defence specialist said.
Although the skies over Afghanistan are full of drones, the U2s still have the old-fashioned advantage of having a person at the controls. “The point about the U2 is that it has a pilot on board who can react to what he is seeing and the camera equipment he has produces phenomenal imagery,” the defence specialist added.
A team of US military and defence officials has been formed to conduct a rapid assessment of all Pentagon information operations in Afghanistan after allegations that a senior civilian member of staff used private contractors to hunt for militants. A separate Pentagon inquiry is still examining the activities of Michael Furlong, who was sent to Afghanistan with funds to assist in disseminating information. However Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, has sent his own team to discover whether funds for all information operations — totalling $528 million (£350 million) this year — are being spent properly. It will scrutinise the role of private security companies.
U2 eye-in-the-sky spy plane wins new lease of life in Afghanistan
Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent
The U2 spy aircraft, famed for high-altitude Cold War espionage missions over the Soviet Union, is enjoying a new lease of life in Afghanistan as the best spotter of Taleban roadside bombs in the allies’ arsenal.
Four years ago the Pentagon wanted to retire the aircraft, which took its first test flight more than half a century ago. Since being fitted with new sensors and communications equipment, however, it has become an indispensable eye-in-the-sky for Nato forces.
From its 70,000ft (21,000m) cruising altitude its high-resolution camera is capable of spotting slight changes in the country’s dry mud paths where the Taleban often bury improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
US military officials said that in the lead-up to the recent operation to seize Marjah in central Helmand from the Taleban, a U2 — nicknamed Dragon Lady because of its long wingspan — spotted almost 150 suspected bombs dug into roads and at planned helicopter landing sites around the town.
Its success in this new role is a remarkable transformation in the fortunes of the U2. It was designed in secrecy and began flying spy missions in 1956. In April 1960 a U2 piloted by Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union and, during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the aircraft uncovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Although it has been used in every major conflict involving the US since then, the Pentagon believed that it had outlived its usefulness and wanted it replaced — until Congress saved it from military obsolescence.
The U2 has acquired a reputation in Afghanistan for spotting bombs that the ground patrols might miss. The Taleban have taken to throwing water over sites where IEDs have been buried which, after being baked in the sun, helps to remove signs of soil disturbance.
“Earth disturbance is one crucial way of uncovering buried IEDs. The U2 can take a series of images and then check one lot of pixels against another lot to detect changes above and below the surface,” a defence specialist said.
Although the skies over Afghanistan are full of drones, the U2s still have the old-fashioned advantage of having a person at the controls. “The point about the U2 is that it has a pilot on board who can react to what he is seeing and the camera equipment he has produces phenomenal imagery,” the defence specialist added.
A team of US military and defence officials has been formed to conduct a rapid assessment of all Pentagon information operations in Afghanistan after allegations that a senior civilian member of staff used private contractors to hunt for militants. A separate Pentagon inquiry is still examining the activities of Michael Furlong, who was sent to Afghanistan with funds to assist in disseminating information. However Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, has sent his own team to discover whether funds for all information operations — totalling $528 million (£350 million) this year — are being spent properly. It will scrutinise the role of private security companies.