The United States wants to revive the active practical flights of the U-2 high-altitude aerial reconnaissance aircraft (ceiling over 21 km), which became famous during the Cold War years. Moreover, a squadron of such aircraft may well be deployed in Europe - in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders. The British daily Independent wrote about this in March, citing the words of the then Commander of the Allied Forces of NATO in Europe, American "hawk" General Philip Breedlove. “US European Command needs additional intelligence-gathering platforms such as the U-2 and RC-135. This is necessary in view of the increased need for such information”- the publication quotes the words of the military leader.
GIVE U-2 AND RC-135
It is noteworthy that the American General Breedlove was born in 1955 - the year when the first U-2, nicknamed the Dragon Lady, took to the air. The Independent also quoted him as saying that Russia "in the long term poses an existential threat" to the United States. Wow, what an original word in the mouth of a military man! And after all, there are no synonyms for it, perhaps - "existential". But that on the forehead, that on the forehead, because in combination with the word "threat" it sounds very frightening. This is not some kind of "fashionable" informational or hybrid wars with "polite people" on the front lines that are not marked by trenches! And so, they say, the "call" to the European theater of military operations of the U-2 and RC-135 aircraft seems to be obvious, suggests itself. Breedlove himself, being in the post of commander-in-chief, in this sense did not throw the word down the drain - he also used the already available opportunities. The incident over the Baltic on April 14 with the RC-135 approaching Russian territorial waters, when the Su-27 fighter made a "barrel" around the American reconnaissance, is a clear confirmation of this.
Military experts interviewed by the British newspaper unanimously suggested that if the request of the NATO strategist is granted, the U-2 and RC-135 are likely to collect data on the Russian naval forces and coastal forces during the missions. But at the same time, they will not cross the airspace of the countries of the North Atlantic bloc. Like, in America, of course, they did not forget how on May 1, 1960, in the region of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), U-2, which was considered invulnerable to the Soviet air defense forces, was shot down, piloted by Francis Powers. Moreover, the very first missile "surface-to-air" (out of eight), which attacked an air spy from the Soviet anti-aircraft missile system S-75 "Dvina".
The Pentagon has yet to comment on Breedlove's proposal. And a source familiar with European-related programs of the American army told the Independent that "although there is no publicly available information about the deployment of U-2 to obtain data on the Russian Federation, this does not mean that there will be no such use of reconnaissance aircraft for these purposes." …
ARE THERE ANY SCRAPPING PLANS?
Meanwhile, in the last 10 years, a lot of interesting information has appeared about Dragon Lady and the captain of the US Air Force, and then the CIA officer Powers, who "glorified" him.
It’s strange that the name U-2 had left the lips of General Breedlove altogether. Indeed, back in January 2006, when he was deputy commander of the 16th air group at Ramstein airbase, the US Department of Defense announced that it intends to send these spy planes "to retire."One of the world's largest news agencies, United Press International (UPI, USA), citing an anonymous source, even then announced the deadline by which these reconnaissance aircraft had to turn into "junk" and museum pieces - 2011. Moreover, the deadlines for the decommissioning of the high-altitude aircraft were scheduled for years: in 2007 it was planned to write off three such aircraft, in 2008 - six, over the next two years - seven cars each and, finally, in 2011 - the last ten. In total - 33 air reconnaissance aircraft during the "five-year plan". The plans for the modernization of the U-2, judging by this message, were not even considered.
In the same January, the American network publication Strategy Page, positioning itself as a source of fresh information on military topics, as if confirming that the U-2 would be removed from service by the American army, confidently reported that they would be replaced by Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. “Both aircraft do not differ in size and are equipped with the same equipment,” the newspaper noted as the case was almost settled. "However, due to the absence of a pilot, the Global Hawk can stay in the air twice as long as the U-2, namely 24 hours." And it indicated that in five years, as the Dragon Lady, which has been serving for half a century, is decommissioned, the United States plans to purchase more than 40 such unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that have been created over the past 10 years.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti is interested in this information. The press service of the US Air Force told him that in 2004 alone, new unmanned reconnaissance aircraft carried out about 50 missions in Iraq, provided about 12 thousand photographs and flew a thousand combat hours. And on May 1-2, 2000, the Global Hawk flew the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to Europe for the first time. In 2001, a similar non-stop flight was carried out between the United States and Australia across the Pacific Ocean - a record for the longest distance for unmanned aircraft. He flies, however, "a little lower" U-2 - the maximum ceiling is 19, 8 km. But he has many other wonderful advantages.
However, in 2011, neither the "advanced" UPI, nor any other agency made it clear to the world community that these understandable plans to say goodbye to Dragon Lady were somehow realized. Neither with reference to official information, nor to the data of any "conspiratorial" source.
The "round date" of the flight and the downing of Powers, which in 2010 was even modestly noted in Moscow, could well have served as a reason for the injection of such information. On the 50th anniversary of the event, the son of spy pilot Francis Gary Powers Jr., who founded the Cold War Museum in the United States, came to the Russian capital.
It is interesting that he met then with one of the developers of the Dvina air defense system - with the then 88-year-old designer Karl Alperovich. The latter told the guest that the S-75 system was created as soon as possible after July 1956, when American U-2s began to systematically violate the airspace of the USSR, and in September 1957, divisions armed with this complex began to enter the troops. “We have completed our task. This was a significant step in the creation of air defense technology in the history of our country, - enlightened a Soviet and Russian scientist, a descendant of an American spy pilot. "The C-75 shot down Powers' U-2 and subsequently won the war in the skies over Vietnam, where it destroyed about a thousand American aircraft."
By the way, of the 29 winged American serial U-2 reconnaissance aircraft lost for various reasons since May 1956, seven were shot down by the S-75 air defense system: one each in the USSR and in Cuba, a couple in Taiwan and three aircraft in China. The rest crashed for technical reasons and because of the "human factor". No wonder, according to the UPI agency, American pilots did not favor Dragon Lady; This machine was once also created in an unprecedentedly short time, and it sometimes "finds" instability in a rarefied space, then at certain flight conditions it is difficult to control it.
“I am glad that Powers survived,” Alperovich also said at the meeting."He was a worthy person who courageously, without panic, fulfilled his task." In turn, Powers Jr. responded that his "father was a soldier and victim of the Cold War and the paranoia that reigned in the United States when he returned home": "He was first of all a military pilot, and then a scout and during interrogations in the KGB, he tried not to betray military secrets. " As for the latter, we delicately disagree here, for Powers, fully exposed, had no choice but to give this secret portion by portion.
Spy At The Borders
And since then, as it was announced "Goodbye, U-2!" "Let slip" about some possible plans for the return of the U-2 to reconnaissance flights. At the same time, General Breedlove did not even remember about the replacement of the "old man" Lockheed - the Global Hawk drone.
And what would that mean?
There is only one answer: while the Global Hawk is still a “raw” machine and not cheap (back in January 2012, the US Air Force decided to stop purchasing drones because of their expensive maintenance, and transfer the already purchased vehicles to the reserve), which is still flying “old guy "Lockheed U-2 is much cheaper. And it began to take shape that the latter's "funeral" was clearly overwhelmed. Moreover, not so long ago, he once again distinguished himself in reconnaissance over Iraq, supplying the command with images from which information was taken more accurate than from a photo from space. And in 1991, again during the war with Iraq, more than half of all photos of the war zone were taken with the help of U-2 and up to 90% of all Iraqi targets were spotted. The veteran air reconnaissance veteran has gone through a series of upgrades and, according to the US Congressional Research Service, could carry out combat missions until 2050.
In the mid-2000s, pilots who did not like this car tried to insist on replacing the Dragon Lady with the Global Hawk. So far, a drop of their patience has been overwhelmed by the last and 29th incident with a scout, which happened on June 22, 2005. Then U-2S with tail number 80-1082, returning from a flight over Afghanistan, crashed while landing at the Al Dhafra airbase (UAE). At a high-altitude driver, who was close to the ground, the power take-off shaft from the engine suddenly collapsed, as a result of which the hydraulic system and power supply failed at the same time. The pilot had no chance to save the car and himself, and he died. And two years before that, near Seoul, taking off from the Hosann airbase, the engine at board No. 80-1095 failed. U-2S "nodded and sang", since the pilot was able to eject and received minor injuries upon landing; and three more people were crippled by the falling car on the ground.
Since then, however, passions have cooled down, and the military again came to the conclusion that it was premature to write off the U-2, there is no clear alternative to it yet.
Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to NATO Alexander Grushko sees the preparation of public opinion in the stuffing of information about the U-2 by the main European Atlanticist Breedlove. “I have not seen any statements from NATO regarding the possibility of using U-2,” he said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel (VGTRK). "Most likely, if such a decision is made, the United States will take it." That is, unilaterally, as is usual with Washington.
“Several things are absolutely clear,” the permanent representative also noted. - Of course, U-2 will not fly over Russia. If they will be used, then only along the borders of the regions adjacent to the Russian Federation."
What is true is true, at least close to the Russian borders to spy on intelligence equipment. Let's say here almost in the words of a classic: it is unlikely that some newly minted Powers would think of trying to fly to the middle of the Urals "once more". But somewhere over the neutral Baltic, any Su-27 can spin a "barrel" around it …
