Free Republic

SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- The United States deployed an RC-135U reconnaissance plane to one of its air bases in Japan, an aviation tracker said Wednesday, a move seen as aimed at beefing up surveillance of North Korea. One RC-135U Combat Sent arrived at Kadena Air Base in Japan's Okinawa on Tuesday from Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska, Aircraft Spots said in a Twitter post. The U.S. air force is known to operate two RC-135Us, which collect and analyze electronic radar transmissions. The deployment came amid concern the North could conduct additional missile launches. A military source said that...

The U-2 spy plane was famous for pushing pilot endurance to the limit. The slow, high-flying aircraft flew for up to nine hours at a time, with a single pilot guiding the plane, taking pictures of the ground below, and occasionally dodging surface-to-air missiles. Nine hours is a long time to be cooped up in a plane without a real bathroom—or to be stuck in a small space with the smell of your own fart. So the CIA actually prescribed a proper diet for U-2 pilots to avoid the need to poop or pass gas.

Most U.S. reconnaissance craft are purpose-built monoliths that operate in geostationary orbit, about 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) above Earth. Though these singletons are extremely capable, they're expensive, typically costing $1 billion or more to build, launch and operate. And it takes a decade or so to develop each one, said Paul "Rusty" Thomas, of the Tactical Technology Office at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The nation's current spy satellites, therefore, aren't terribly responsive to new technologies and new developments, and they represent "big, fat, juicy targets" to adversaries, Thomas said last week during a presentation with NASA's...

Cool image time! In continuing my exploration of this month’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) image release, I found two interesting images of small craters, one as part of that image release, the other found completely by accident...The map on the right, taken from the MRO HiRISE archive page, shows the locations of these two images...Both are located in the lava plains that surround the giant volcano Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three volcanoes to the east of Olympus Mons.

Saab has begun work to modify a pair of Bombardier Global 6000 business jets to its “swing-role” GlobalEye configuration for lead customer the United Arab Emirates. “We are building as we speak,” Saab chief executive Håkan Buskhe told journalists during a 17 May briefing in Stockholm. “It’s full speed ahead in our workshop.” The Swedish company signed a $1.27 billion deal with the UAE at the Dubai air show in November, with the heavily adapted Global 6000s to be capable of conducting airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), maritime and land surveillance and electronic intelligence duties. Saab Speaking during a...

A key fleet of U.S. reconnaissance planes used to detect enemy aircraft in hostile settings will to be cut by 25 percent under President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget, according to multiple sources familiar with the budget proposal. A fleet of 31 AWACs, or Airborne Warning and Control System planes, will be reduced to 24 by 2015 under Obama’s budget proposal. The situation has prompted concern in defense circles and elsewhere, where sources have pointed out that AWACS are currently deployed in Poland and Romania in order to help monitor the standoff in Ukraine. AWACS are a highly advanced type...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (CBSLA.com) — The largest rocket ever to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base had a succesful lift-off Wednesday. The Delta IV Heavy rocket was launched with a $1 billion spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) “in support of national defense,” according to aerospace engineering firm United Launch Alliance (ULA). Once it reaches orbit in about two days, the classified payload is expected to be able to distinguish details back on Earth as minute as the make and model of an automobile. ULA officials alerted the public about the launch through its Facebook and...

A newly declassified CIA history from 20 years ago spills the story about Nevada's Area 51 and its secret mission — which was not to study UFOs, but to test the U-2 and other spy planes. The CIA's story about the legendary test site is contained in "The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: the U-2 and Oxcart Programs." The document was approved for release in June, with just a few remaining redactions, in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by George Washington University's National Security Archive back in 2005.

How To Fly A U-2 Spy Plane Got your eye on a sweet used '59 U-2 spy plane you saw on Craigslist? Would you go ahead and take the plunge if you just, you know, knew how to fly it? Then boy, are you in luck. That's because a couple days ago an entire flight manual for the U-2 from 1959 was declassified and released by the CIA. You can tell it's declassified because on each page where the word "secret" appears, someone has carefully drawn a line through it. We've got a copy here for you. The U-2 is,...

An SR-71 Blackbird Tail Fin Is For Sale On eBay For $1 Million A tail rudder from the fastest airplane in the world could be yours — for a cool $1 million. The seller didn't say if it was a spare part, or if it was once part of a functioning SR-71 Blackbird, which is an important distinction given the cost. When it debuted in 1964, the SR-71 Blackbird — the mean looking surveillance aircraft that cruised high above the Soviet Union at speeds of up to mach 3.5 — cost the U.S. Air Force $34 million per air frame....

Last year the U.S. Air Force decided to extend the life of its U-2 fleet and cut back on the use of large UAVs for strategic reconnaissance. One of the many upgrades U-2s will now receive will be better cockpit pressurization. Currently, pilots operate in a cockpit pressurized to conditions found at 9,600 meters (30,000 feet). This puts more strain on the pilot's body. That, and the fact that they breathe pure oxygen while up there, means they tend to be completely exhausted after returning from a long mission. So pressuring the cockpit to the level of a lower altitude...

The Rafael in The Afghan Operations: Reconnaissance Pods Used Effectively 10/11/2011 During the French operations in Afghanistan, the reconnaissance pods on the Rafael provided to be a key asset. The tactical aircraft provided dynamic targeting data and were able to work with the sea-bases to work an intervention and strike picture to guide the entire French air operation. This was the first time these new assets were used off of the Raphael. During a recent visit to Paris, Second Line of Defense sat down with Vice Admiral (Retired) Richard Wilmot-Roussel, now the naval advisor to the head of Dassault Aviation....

Rafale F3 and AREOS Reco NG: The 21st century reconnaissance team The Rafale F3 will take over recce duties, using the AREOS Reco NG pod developed by Thales. (Photo: Dassault Aviation) 15:10 GMT, February 9, 2011 The AREOS Reco NG pod, an integral part of the F3 standard for Rafale fighters, brings France into the world of all-digital reconnaissance. As a veritable “omnirole” fighter, the Rafale has already replaced several types of warplanes in the French air force and navy. This trend is set to continue in the coming years with the retirement of France’s last Mirage F-1 fighters, the...

The U.S. Navy announced today the award of a $1.6 billion contract to Boeing for P-8A Poseidon aircraft Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of six aircraft. This first LRIP contract also includes spares, logistics and training devices. Production of the first LRIP aircraft will begin this summer at Boeing’s Renton, Wash. facility. “In 2004, the U.S. Navy and the Boeing Company made a commitment to deliver the next generation maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to support a 2013 Initial Operational Capability (IOC),” said Capt. Mike Moran, PMA 290 Program Manager. “This contract and these aircraft keep that commitment on track.” Three...

Northrop Grumman has formally entered the race to win a US Army contract to deliver a new fleet of signals intelligence aircraft. The announcement adds the company to a growing list of declared rivals - including Boeing and L-3 Communications - bidding for the enhanced medium-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance system (EMARSS). The army wants a prime contractor to integrate a small but sophisticated suite of multiple SIGINT collectors on to Beechcraft King Air 350ERs. Payloads include an electro-optical camera and low-band communications interceptors. Northrop has not revealed details about the proposal submitted to the army before the 25 June deadline....

The U.S. Air Force is moving rapidly in developing and testing smaller reconnaissance and communications satellites. These birds weigh a ton or less (down to 100 kg/220 pounds). The smallest ones have limited usefulness and endurance. But when you get to half a ton or more, you have a very useful bird. It is believed these smaller satellites will be needed to replace wartime losses. Usually, the U.S. has four KH-11s and four Lacrosse radar satellites in orbit, plus several smaller, and more secret birds. Often, these satellites last longer than their design life of eight years (some have gone...

MOSCOW — Fifty years ago Saturday, U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, a dramatic episode of the Cold War that pushed the rival superpowers closer to confrontation. Now his son has come to Moscow on a mission of his own: By telling his late father's story, he hopes to help preserve Cold War history and prevent future generations of Russians and Americans from ever again facing the threat of nuclear war. On May 1, 1960, Powers was in the cockpit of the world's highest-flying plane, concentrated on keeping...

A researcher from The University of Western Ontario has helped solve a 37-year old space mystery using lunar images released yesterday by NASA and maps from his own atlas of the moon. Phil Stooke, a professor cross appointed to Western's Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Geography, published a major reference book on lunar exploration in 2007 entitled, "The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration." Yesterday, images and data from Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) were posted. The LRO, scheduled for a one year exploration mission about 31 miles above the lunar surface, will produce a comprehensive map, search for resources...

An astronomer at the University of Western Ontario has found a Soviet moon rover in recently released images from a NASA satellite. Phil Stooke combed through data and images of the moon's surface from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that NASA released Monday. Stooke compared the images to his own recently published reference book on moon geography, The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration, and pinpointed the location of the Soviet rover Lunokhod 2. "The tracks were visible at once," said Stooke, in a statement. The location of the rover was already known through laser ranging experiments, but there's no telescope on...

The U.S. Air Force is pushing the idea that manned reconnaissance aircraft, like its new MC-12, are preferred, by ground troops, to UAVs. The pitch is that troops feel more comfortable if the recon aircraft overhead has some people in it. This is odd, since troops on the ground often have no idea where the people they talk to, via radio, are, and don't much care as long as they get the help they need. The real problem is that there not enough people on the ground who know how to talk to an aircraft overhead and get a smart...