The End of an Era: The U.S. Air Force’s Dragon Lady Prepares for Retirement
For more than seven decades, the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady has embodied the pinnacle of American aerial reconnaissance, a spindly, high-flying sentinel that has peered into the world’s… 
For more than seven decades, the Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady has embodied the pinnacle of American aerial reconnaissance, a spindly, high-flying sentinel that has peered into the world’s most secretive corners from the edge of space. Designed in the frantic early days of the Cold War, this single-engine marvel has outlasted countless predictions of obsolescence, delivering irreplaceable intelligence through crises from the Cuban Missile Crisis to recent operations in the Middle East. Yet, as the U.S. Air Force outlines its fiscal 2027 budget plans, the service intends to retire its remaining fleet of roughly two dozen U-2S aircraft by the end of that fiscal year. This decision…
