All language subtitles for Air.Warriors.S05E03.U-2.Dragon.Lady.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE[eztv]

Griffin: We are
basically the eyes and ears

Of the decision
makers of our country.

Narrator: For
over half a century

The u-2 dragon lady has flown

At the edge of the
earth's atmosphere

Blurring the line between
"pilot" and "astronaut".

Wilson: High altitude
takes a toll on the human body.

Narrator: Developed in secret...

Pocock: The cia was not going to
let this opportunity pass it by.

Narrator: ...And revealed
to the world by scandal.

Grant: Suddenly, it comes out

That we've been flying over
the soviet union for years.

Narrator: This is an inside look

At america's most
notorious spy plane.

And how the u-2 transformed
from a cold war flight risk...

Oleson: You're hanging on
for dear life after takeoff.

Narrator: ...To a
modern day dragon.

♪ ♪

Narrator: 2001:
Operation southern watch.

The united states and its allies

Control the
airspace over southern iraq,

But saddam hussein's forces
fight back on the ground.

The iraqis move their radar
and surface to air missiles

Almost daily to avoid detection.

To monitor their movements,

The united states relies on

One of its most
legendary aircraft: The u-2.

It's been the world's
top high-flying spy plane

Across six decades.

Griffin: Behind me is the
venerable u-2 dragon lady.

We call it the dragon lady
because up high she's a lady

And down low it can be
like wrestling with a dragon.

Narrator: The u-2 is
built for just one thing:

High altitude reconnaissance.

Griffin: What that means is

We're getting
images and intelligence

That we beam down
in near real time.

We are basically
the eyes and ears

Of the decision
makers of our country.

So the products that we create
go all the way up the chain

And regularly reach
the president's desk.

Narrator: Today's
version of the dragon lady

Has a slender frame
that's 63 feet long.

Her wings stretch to 105 feet.

She's lean:
Barely 16,000 pounds.

To keep her weight
down, she has just one engine

Capable of producing
17,000 pounds of thrust.

Griffin: It's optimized for high
altitude efficiency and power.

It's part of the
reason that we are able to

Get up all the way to
70,000 feet and above.

Narrator: 70,000 feet; that's
thirteen miles above the earth.

Right at the edge
of the stratosphere.

Griffin: When
you're flying the u-2

The only guys higher than you

Are the guys that are up on the
international space station.

Narrator: October 2001: Prince
sultan air base, saudi arabia.

A u-2 pilot
prepares to fly over iraq

In search of hostile missiles.

Olesen: We had a
pretty big operation going

To discover all the violations

That saddam
hussein was committing.

Lieutenant colonel jeff olesen
was a u-2 pilot for 10 years.

Olesen: That began to
have a toll on saddam hussein.

He wanted a u-2
pilot dead or alive.

He wanted to
drag that guy or girl

Through the streets of baghdad
for all the world to see.

Narrator: Olesen has
flown dozens of missions,

But today is different.

Three hours into the flight,
he notices something is wrong.

Olesen: My fuel flow
indicator kind of dipped down

And that's never
happened before.

I thought oh,
well, it was a glitch.

About a minute
later it flickered again,

But this time a little lower,

And the engine just starts
to kind of die a little bit.

Narrator: Thirteen
miles above enemy territory

Is no place to
lose your only engine.

Changing settings
may solve the problem.

Olesen flicks a switch
in hopes of a quick fix.

[alert sound]

Olesen: All hell broke loose.

The engine began to
violently grind to this halt.

It was grinding so hard that
it took the plane and shook it.

My head was shaking like
a rag doll in the cockpit.

I just knew, this was bad.

Narrator: Olesen
quickly switches back

To his original setting.

Olesen: Everything got
a little more peaceful,

And it was flying normal again,

Except I couldn't
engage the autopilot.

Narrator:
Autopilot regulates

One of the u-2's most
crucial features: Speed.

At 70,000 feet, there's
only seven miles per hour

Separating the
u-2s maximum speed

And a low-speed
stall of the aircraft.

Olesen: If you get a
little bit over speed,

The tail just
comes off the plane.

If you get a little
bit under speed you stall.

Olesen: I'm
having to concentrate

Just to stay within that window.

I can't get outside of that

Or the plane is
going to come down.

Narrator:
No pilot can maintain

Such a high level of
concentration for long.

Olesen has to get down
to a lower altitude fast.

Olesen: The airplane
is a different airplane

Below 50,000 feet.

Down there you really
don't have to worry about

That narrow margin of airspeed
that you have to maintain.

Narrator:
The only problem:

Flying lower makes his u-2 an
easy target for enemy missiles.

Olesen: The lower I got
the more vulnerable I got.

And the last thing
I really wanted to do

Was meet saddam hussein.

He had made it very
clear what he was going to do

If he ever got a hold
of one of the u-2 pilots.

Narrator: Olesen does
some mental math to figure out

How far it is to the
nearest friendly border.

Olesen: I realized, okay,
I'm going to egress iraq,

That's my first concern.

The second concern then
is, where am I going to land?

Narrator: Flying
the u-2 isn't easy.

Landing her is even harder.

It's considered to be the
most difficult plane to land

In the air force arsenal.

That's why u-2s
can't just land anywhere.

Griffin: There are tons
of things that can go wrong

While you're landing the u-2.

The giant
wings create lift.

Additionally, we have a giant
motor creating a lot of thrust,

So the combination of
the lift from the wings

And the thrust from the motor,

This thing just
doesn't want to land.

Narrator: The u-2's
landing gear doesn't help.

It has just two sets of
wheels laid out like a bicycle.

Griffin: The reason
that we have tandem wheels

Is strictly to save weight.

Every pound that
we have on the jet

Is a foot lower
of our max altitude.

Narrator:
Making a safe landing demands
not just one pilot, but two.

The second one
waits on the ground.

The second pilot is
called a "mobile officer."

He follows the
plane in a chase car,

Driving up to
100 miles per hour.

For the chase car,
position is everything:

Three car lengths behind
and slightly to the side

To avoid the wash
of the u-2's engine.

The mobile officer is an extra
set of eyes for the pilot.

As the u-2
flies over the runway,

He gives the pilot adjustments.

Male: (over the radio)
6, 5, 4, 3 --

Let it down a little --
at 4, 3, 2...

Narrator:
The reason:

To land the plane,
the pilot has to stall it

Exactly two
feet from the ground.

Griffin: It literally
falls out of the sky.

If you stall the
aircraft higher than two feet,

The aircraft can fall to
the ground and break the jet,

Hurt you, obviously,
or break the sensors.

Narrator: As it slows down,
it leans on one side

With one wingtip
scraping the ground.

The ground crew
installs "pogos" under each wing

To hold them level as
the u-2 moves to the hangar.

Griffin: It might be the hardest
airplane to land ever created.

Narrator: Over iraq,
olesen scrambles to determine

Where he can land
his struggling plane.

Olesen: I knew I
needed to go to an airfield

In kuwait called al jabar.

We briefed every day that
that's where we would land

If we had some
kind of a problem.

So, that was going
to be where I would attempt

To land the airplane.

Narrator: 40 miles
out, olesen radios forward

To let the air controllers
know he's heading in.

Olesen: I reported in as
a u.S. Aircraft, emergency,

I've got an engine malfunction

And I'm arriving at
your airfield to land.

Narrator: Air
controllers respond --

Olesen is welcome, but
there's just one catch:

U-2s don't
normally live at this base.

So they don't have
the one thing crucial

To a safe landing: A chase car.

Olesen: I knew I
didn't have a chase car.

But the fate of
that airplane and me

Were tied
together at that point.

I was going to
get that plane down.

Narrator:
Over kuwait, lieutenant
colonel jeffrey olesen

And his u-2
approach al jabar air base.

The u-2 usually
lands with assistance,

This time, olesen
has to go it alone.

Olesen: I had
made it out of iraq,

And I thought, wouldn't that
be bad if I got here finally

To a runway and
then messed it up?

Narrator: He carefully
guides his struggling aircraft

Toward the ground.

The multi-million dollar plane
demands a perfect landing.

Olesen: Landing
the u-2 is a feat.

You're trying to land something

That is aerodynamically
unstable and unpredictable.

Narrator: Olesen
begins his final approach.

He guides the
aircraft over the runway,

Getting a feel for where he'll
force the aircraft to stall.

Without the chase
car's guidance, it's tough.

At two feet, he
stalls the aircraft.

It's a perfect landing.

An investigation
reveals the problem:

A piece of the fuel control
unit was made incorrectly,

By just 1/1000th of an inch.

The mission highlights
the sensitivity of the u-2

And how it can test the
skills of even the best pilots.

Olesen: The u-2 pulls the
best out of you every time.

Your skills are tested.

And it challenges you

And pulls out the
aviator in you every ride.

Narrator: Nothing about
the u-2 has ever been easy.

It was originally
designed to perform

A nearly impossible
mission during the cold war.

August 1953, kazakhstan:

The soviet union reveals
its new and devastating weapon:

[explosion]

The hydrogen bomb.

It's twenty-six
times more powerful

Than the bomb
dropped on hiroshima.

[explosions]

The test sends an
ominous sign to the pentagon:

The soviets are preparing
for all-out nuclear war.

Pocock: The soviets seemed
to be much more advanced

Than u.S.
Intelligence had estimated.

Narrator: Chris pocock
has authored four books

On the history of the u-2.

Pocock: It was
known that the soviets

Had bombers and nuclear weapons.

The question was

Did they have enough bombers
to pose a significant threat?

The u.S. Was worried
about surprise attack.

Narrator: The iron curtain
between east and west

Is firmly in place.

U.S. Spies
struggle to peek behind it.

Pocock: The traditional
means were spies on the ground,

But the soviets
made that very difficult

And entire huge areas
of the soviet hinterland

Were a complete unknown.

It was clear to
u.S. Policy makers

That this
situation was untenable.

The question was
how to address it.

Narrator:
Washington, dc, the pentagon.

The air force decides if it
can't get into the soviet union,

It will go over it.

They start an
initiative: Project bald eagle.

Grant: The primary
goal of bald eagle

Was to build a
high-flying spy plane

That could take crisp pictures

Of real soviet military
capabilities.

Narrator: Rebecca grant is one
of the foremost civilian experts

On air force
history and aircraft.

Grant: At the time,
the only good choice

For high-flying planes
is the bomber arsenal.

Narrator: The air force's
highest-flying bomber

Is the b-57 canberra.

It can fly to 48,000 feet.

But just months before the
canberra enters u.S. Service,

The air force learns that
it may already be obsolete.

Grant: The royal
air force in britain

Flew a canberra
over the soviet union,

Trying to bring
back intelligence.

Soviet defenses almost
shot the bomber down.

Narrator:
The air force is concerned.

Soviet radar technology is
farther along than they thought.

To avoid detection,

They need a plane
that can fly higher

Than anything the
soviets can muster.

Grant: This
high-flying spy plane

Was completely unprecedented
in the aeronautical world.

Nothing like this had
been designed before.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The air force reaches
out to three contractors:

Bell, martin, and fairchild.

Pocock: The air
force selected companies

That they thought would
make this design a priority

Rather than the bigger companies

That were already enjoying
substantial air force contracts.

Narrator: News travels
fast. Lockheed's kelly johnson

Also wants in on
the secret spy plane.

Johnson heads lockheed's
advanced development projects.

Codenamed: Skunk works.

Grant: They were known as
a highly innovative shop.

They just went
straight to the design board,

And right to the
production line to build.

Narrator: In March 1954,

He presents a plan for
an unconventional aircraft

Called the cl-282.

It's like nothing the
air force has even seen.

Grant: It was a
super-glider sail plane,

Using a small engine that
could reach nearly 70,000 feet.

Narrator: The air force
considers the lockheed design,

But decides to go
with the safe bet:

A modified version of the
b-57 it's already flying.

Grant: It couldn't fly as
high, but it had two engines,

It was a more rugged
design, already proven.

They were not keen to
take the risk on the cl-282.

Narrator: The air
force has its spy plane.

But president eisenhower
isn't willing to play it safe.

Wilson: President
eisenhower was concerned

With the increasing
sophistication

Of the soviet union.

Narrator: Colonel chuck
wilson was a u-2 pilot,

Commander, and
pentagon official for 25 years.

Wilson: He
convened a group of experts

To take a look at the
problem of a surprise attack.

Grant: They looked at a
number of different systems,

And among them was

How to accomplish
high-altitude reconnaissance.

They loved the
idea of the cl-282.

Narrator: The panel
suggests a new buyer

For the lockheed
design: The cia.

The only problem:

A cia-run aircraft intrudes
on air force territory.

Pocock: The air
force wasn't at all happy

At this new
strategic over flight mission

Being taken away from them.

Narrator:
Finally, a compromise:

The air force
supplies pilots and training.

The cia foots the bill

And determines the
spy plane's missions.

Grant: The
contract was done secretly,

The cia took over
all the management

And kelly johnson
effectively started working

For the cia to build this plane.

They should have
called it "r-something,"

For reconnaissance,

But instead simply
called it the "u-2,"

A utility designation,

To cloak its real
mission from prying eyes.

Narrator: August 1955,
area 51: Groom lake, nevada.

The spy plane is
ready to make its debut.

Pocock: It was decided
to test fly this airplane

In the most secure and
secret conditions possible.

This whole area was off limits

To unauthorized
personnel for miles around

And so it was a good
site to test fly an airplane.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The new spy
plane rolls out of the hangar.

Wilson: Long wings,
a sleek fuselage,

And they weren't
too sure exactly

What they were getting into
until they actually flew it.

Narrator: High
altitude flight means more

Than just getting
a plane in the air.

It's also about
keeping the pilot alive.

Wilson: He's going to be in

A very hazardous
physiological environment.

Above 50,000 feet you
might as well be on the moon.

Narrator: Pilots wear a
$300,000 dollar space suit,

Designed to shield them

From life-threatening
atmospheric pressure.

Male: All right, sir, do you
need any final adjustments?

Wilson:
If our pilot was exposed to the
pressures above 50,000 feet

His body would burst,
his blood would boil.

Narrator: U-2
pilots must undergo

A complicated
pre-flight procedure;

Performing a detailed physical

And pre-breathing pure
oxygen for more than an hour.

Wilson: The reason
to pre-breathe 100% oxygen

Is to get the nitrogen
out of the blood stream.

Narrator: Any nitrogen in the
blood puts the pilot at risk

For decompression sickness.

One loose tube and he can
go unconscious at altitude.

The pilot
remains hooked to oxygen

All the way to the u-2 cockpit
where the real mission begins.

♪ ♪

At groom lake, the u-2
taxis onto the runway.

In just a few hundred
feet it lifts into the air.

Pocock: Take off of a u-2
is always a spectacular sight.

As soon it's
lifted off the runway

It ascends at a very high rate.

♪ ♪

Narrator: In just weeks the
new plane reaches 70,000 feet,

Higher than any
airplane in history.

Now, it's time to see
what the soviets are hiding.

Grant: The cia knew the
u-2 could perform in flight,

But the only way to prove it was
to fly behind the iron curtain.

Narrator:
July 4th, 1956:

Wiesbaden air base,
west germany.

The u-2 embarks on its
first soviet over flight.

Destination: Leningrad.

Pocock: The first
priority was to determine

Whether the soviets
had deployed bombers.

If the u.S. Had seen evidence of
large soviet bomber deployments,

Then it would have to boost

Its own air defenses
protecting north america.

Narrator: The u.S. Bets the
u-2's camera can do something

No other camera is capable of:

Shoot useable
film at 70,000 feet.

To do this, it
relies on a 3-foot lens --

Sharp enough to provide

Over 2,500 lines of
resolution per inch of film.

The camera snaps
up to 4,000 images,

Enough to photograph the entire
route from berlin to leningrad:

Over 2,200 miles.

The flight successfully returns.

Cia technicians
pore over the images.

The reality of the
arms race comes into focus.

Grant: U-2 imagery was able
to show that the soviet union

Had far fewer
bombers than they claimed.

The u.S. Was still ahead.

Narrator: But a closer
look reveals a new problem,

The soviets know
that the u-2s are there.

Pocock: The cia could
see fighter interceptors

Rising beneath them.
That meant that the soviets

Were tracking
these flights on radar.

Grant: The
photo-interpreters found that

The little dots on
the photo imagery

Were mig-15s
and mig-17s,

Trying to track
and attack the u-2.

Luckily, the u-2's high altitude
abilities protected it.

Narrator: Soviet
diplomats quietly demand

That the u.S. Stop the flights.

Six days later

Eisenhower suspends u-2
flights over the soviet union.

But it isn't long
before temptation

To spy on the soviets
is too great to resist.

Narrator: August 1957, soviet
premier nikita khrushchev

Ups the cold-war
ante with a new weapon:

An intercontinental
ballistic missile.

It's nuclear armed and
designed to reach u.S. Shores.

Grant: To the
public, it's a huge crisis.

The cia is desperate to know
exactly how many there are,

And what kind of
threat they represent.

So eisenhower green-lights just
a handful more of u-2 flights.

Narrator: Lockheed
engineers upgrade the u-2

With a new
anti-radar technology.

They're hopeful that these
flights will be harder to track.

Grant: Eisenhower
knows how risky it is,

But the cia assures him
they need the intelligence

And they believe the u-2
flights were top priority.

Narrator: The flights reveal
several soviet launch sites.

But the upgrades aren't working.

Soviet radar sees the u-2s,

But they're still
just out of reach.

In 1958
eisenhower gets nervous

And stops the flights again.

Grant: He was trying to
negotiate on arms control

And he knew that the u-2 flights

Could provoke the
soviet union to the point that

Khrushchev would
break off all negotiations.

Narrator: In July, the two
nations take a giant step.

Khrushchev visits the
u.S. On a good-will tour.

Grant: The khrushchev
tour was a big success.

And it led to
khrushchev's agreement

To meet with eisenhower

And other leaders
again for a summit in paris

To finally conclude decisive
arms control agreements.

Narrator: A nuclear drawdown
appears to be on the horizon,

But the u.S. Decides it needs

Just a few more
looks behind the curtain.

A misstep that will put the u-2

In front page
headlines around the globe.

♪ ♪

May 1, 1960: Peshawar, pakistan.

Two weeks before
the paris peace summit.

U-2 pilot gary powers heads out

On a top-secret
mission over the soviet union.

If all goes well,

Powers will land in
norway nine hours later,

With crucial intelligence on
soviet missile installations.

Four hours into the flight,

Powers' spy plane is rocked by
a barrage of soviet missiles.

Days later, khrushchev
goes public and announces

That soviet sa-2 missiles
have shot down an american u-2.

Grant: The u-2 is on the
ground. Powers is missing.

And suddenly, it's revealed
the americans have been flying

Over the soviet union for years.

Narrator: The u.S.
Quickly concocts a story:

The u-2 was
tracking weather patterns.

Grant: They don't
expect the delicate u-2

To survive being shot down.

And frankly, they expected
the pilot won't live either.

Narrator: Miraculously,
powers did manage to bail out.

And landed in the center
of a major diplomatic crisis.

The u.S. Cover
story quickly unravels.

The soviets have the wreckage
of the top-secret airplane

And they also have its pilot.

Pocock: The plane was in pieces,
but the pilot was intact,

And so they were able
to put him on trial,

And extract
maximum propaganda value.

Narrator: Powers is
convicted of espionage

And sentenced to
10 years in prison.

[applause]

Peace talks collapse.

Relations between the
superpowers take a nose dive.

Not long after,

Another u-2 incident causes
nuclear tensions to escalate.

August, 1962:

The soviets deliver
nuclear missiles to cuba,

Just 90 miles from u.S. Shores.

Grant: There is no
doubt that a rocket

Can hit america from cuba.

President
kennedy needs consistent

Around the clock intelligence.

Narrator: Kennedy
decides to change strategy.

He hands some of the u-2 flights
over to the u.S. Air force.

Grant: It's the air
force's job to figure out

Exactly how
quickly the soviet union

Is building up
their capability in cuba.

Narrator: Now if
a u-2 is shot down,

It's no longer an act
of failed cia espionage.

It will be a direct act of war.

U-2 flights reveal
nuclear weapons storage sites,

Twenty two nuclear bombers
and nine nuclear missile sites.

President kennedy:
Within the past week,

Unmistakable evidence
has established the fact

That a series of
offensive missile sites

Is now in preparation
on that imprisoned island.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Americans
prepare for nuclear armageddon.

The u-2s fly on high alert.

Watching and waiting for the
nuclear sites to become active.

♪ ♪

October 27th: Mccoy
air force base, florida.

Major rudolf anderson takes
off in a u-2 bound for cuba.

The cubans track him,

But they've been ordered not
to shoot by the soviet union.

Khrushchev doesn't want to
risk an all-out nuclear war.

Missile operators on the
ground don't get the message.

Anderson's u-2 is
blown out of the sky.

Anderson dies on impact. It is
seen as a deliberate act of war.

Grant: The united
states and the soviet union

Lurched towards nuclear war.

And the u-2 is at the
forefront of this crisis.

Narrator:
Nuclear war is imminent,

But at the eleventh hour,

Khrushchev and
kennedy make a deal.

The soviets withdraw
the missiles from cuba

And the u.S.
Removes its own missiles

From sites near
the soviet union.

By now, the u-2's
reconnaissance value is clear,

But the air force wonders:

Is their spy plane
too easy a target?

Pocock: Whenever
surface-to-air missiles

Were going to be
deployed in the future,

The u-2 could not
fly close to them.

Grant: It's time to think about
a potential u-2 replacement.

Narrator: December 22,
1964: Palmdale, california.

Lockheed rolls out the u-2's
successor: The sr-71 blackbird.

A special paint allows it
to absorb enemy radar signals

Making it difficult to detect.

It flies more than three
times the speed of sound,

Nearly six times
as fast as the u-2.

Combined with
altitudes of over 80,000 feet,

The blackbird is
not an easy target.

Grant: The idea
behind the sr-71

Was that it
would be fast enough,

As well as high enough to
outrun surface to air missiles.

Narrator:
The air force is sold.

It issues a
contract for 31 blackbirds.

The u-2 seems to be
on its way out the door.

♪ ♪

Narrator: 1966: The u-2 dragon
lady is about to be eclipsed

By the sr-71 blackbird.

Speed and altitude make the
sr-71 a formidable opponent.

But the u-2 has
one key advantage

Over its hot-rod
rival: Flying time.

The sr-71 flies two
hours before it needs fuel.

The u-2 flies for over ten.

In 1967, lockheed
adds more reasons

To keep the u-2 flying high.

Pocock: Kelly johnson designed
a new version of the u-2: U-2r.

The wingspan increased
from 80 feet to 100 feet;

The fuselage enlarged so that it
could accommodate new sensors.

Grant:
All of these upgrades

Make the u-2 ready
for more missions

If only they can find a
place where it's still useful.

Narrator: The u-2r
finds that place in vietnam.

♪ ♪

Vietnam is a dangerous
place for american airmen.

In just two years,
the vietcong shoot down

Over 300 american aircraft

Using their soviet-made surface
to air missile, the sa2.

Furr: They were doing a
fine job of intercepting

And shooting down aircraft.

Narrator: Colonel
frank 'fuzzy' furr

Was with the 99th strategic
reconnaissance squadron

During the vietnam war.

Furr: The missiles they
used had great guidance

And they would move
their missile sites

To confuse where we
thought their sites were.

Narrator: U.S.
Intelligence struggles

To anticipate the
vietcong's tactics.

Their fast, high-flying
blackbird can't quite keep up.

Furr: The sr-71s
were doing a super job

Of collecting the imagery,

But it was not a real time
intelligence-gathering platform.

It had to be
brought back to an area,

Downloaded from the airplane.

By the time the
images make it back,

The missiles have already moved.

The u.S. Doesn't
need delayed photos,

It needs real-time intelligence.

Engineers work
hard behind the scenes.

In 1971, they
come up with a sensor

That gathers audio intelligence,

Recording enemy
chatter as it's emitted.

The sensor has to
be high to survey

The widest possible area.

But it also can't move too
fast, ruling out the sr-71.

The air force's solution:

Put the sensor up
on the slower flying,

Newly buffed-up u-2r.

Furr: The u-2
didn't pass through

Like the sr-71 did and was gone.

It stayed in the area
for 8 to 10 to 12 hours

And was able to
collect and then provide

That information in real time.

Pocock: The u-2 became a signals
intelligence gathering airplane

As much as it was an
imagery gathering airplane.

This was the
beginning of a revolution

In airborne
intelligence gathering.

Narrator: The new
sensor sits in a compartment

Behind the cockpit
taking the place of its camera.

At 70,000 feet it can
collect enemy chatter

From up to three
hundred miles away.

A data-link in the u-2's tail
sends the intercepted chatter

To american analysts positioned
within a 300-mile line of sight.

Furr: The positions were
actually manned by people

Who could receive
these vietnamese,

Chinese or
russian communications,

Translate those into english,

And provide that
intelligence in real time.

Narrator: Intelligence
specialists alert bombers

To what the enemy is saying.

Grant: By having
that information

It can be passed
back to a ground station

And then passed on to
other aircraft in flight.

So it's useful to pilots

Who are already airborne
on their bombing missions.

Narrator: The upgrades give
the u-2 a new sense of purpose.

In 1979 the
lockheed production line,

Originally slated to
close, is re-opened.

Furr: The real time capability
that was proven during vietnam,

Pushed the u-2 into being a
very much sought after platform

For real time intelligence.

Narrator: The growing
u-2 fleet is smarter.

Twenty-four foot
super-pods on the wings

Detect exactly when and where

Enemy missile
radar becomes active.

In an interchangeable nose,

Either a radar or an
advanced imaging sensor.

Both producing high resolution
imagery in near-real time.

No more waiting for wet film.

Analysts can tap into the u-2s
birds-eye view as it flies.

Grant: The u-2 is no
longer just taking pictures.

It can pick up a blip
that a sam site is active

And then use its camera to
get a fix on that sam site,

Identify what it is
and what it's doing.

And this
becomes very important

When iraq
invades kuwait in 1990.

The u-2 will play a starring
role in operation desert storm.

Narrator: In 1991 u-2s
thrive over the skies of iraq.

Providing 50% of all imagery
intelligence for the war.

In 1992, the air force installs
a new data-link fin on its back,

Known as senior spur.

It uses a satellite
to transmit u-2 imagery

Anywhere in the world,

A room full of
analysts in the u.S.

Can now watch a fight unfold on
the ground, half a world away.

Holmgren: You might
be looking at an image

In the pacific one day,

And then switch over to
afghanistan the next day,

And then in central
or south america.

Narrator: These advances
provide friendly troops

With non-stop
coverage from above

And just when they
need it the most.

2012: Afghanistan:

America is at war
with the taliban.

[gun shot]

Ambushes on u.S. Troops
are frequent and deadly.

U.S. Forces need around
the clock surveillance.

For that, they look to the u-2.

Smith: You'll just
dwell in one area,

And your sensors are just
soaking stuff up the whole time.

Lt. Col. Matthew
smith is a u-2 pilot

With the 9th
operational support squadron.

Smith:
We're just kind of sitting in
the background monitoring;

We're not going to interfere
with them unless we need to.

Narrator: Over afghanistan,

Something in the radio chatter
catches smith's attention.

Smith: I was listening
to a convoy type force

And I started to hear
some chatter of,

They're having vehicle problems.

So now you know
somebody's mission

Isn't going the way
it's supposed to go.

Narrator: 7,000
miles away in california,

Analysts at beale air force base

Use the u-2's sensors
to scan for enemy chatter.

Smith: There's some
discussion of some planning.

People are preparing
for an attack of some sort.

And it turned out the
attack was against our guys

Having the
problem in the convoy.

Narrator: The
u-2's imagery reveals

A group of taliban soldiers

Just moments from ambushing
the unsuspecting convoy.

The team must intervene fast

Or coalition
troops may be finished

Before they know what hit them.

♪ ♪

Narrator: High
above afghanistan,

U-2 pilot lt. Col. Smith
listens in on a stranded convoy

About to be ambushed
by taliban soldiers.

Smith: You're listening
to the situation unfold.

They don't know
that you're there.

They don't know there's
bad guys around the corner.

Narrator: 7,000 miles away,

Analysts see
enemy forces moving in.

They let smith know and
the u-2 pilot radios down

To the troops to warn
them of the impending attack.

Smith: It's like the
voice of god comes down, like,

Who are you? How
are you on my radio?

And you just say, hey,
I'm here. I'm watching,

What I'm telling you is get
ready for an attack, lock down.

Narrator: Smith scans
through his radio frequencies

Searching for help.

He picks up two
f-18 fighters nearby.

Smith: I key the same microphone
button and I talk to the f-18s.

They're weaponized, they're
ready, they got good gas.

Narrator: The f-18s
are only minutes away,

But on his radio smith
hears what he's been dreading.

Smith: You can hear the guys
on the ground getting shot at.

You can hear the gunfire.

You can hear the
emotion in their voice.

Narrator: Just moments later,
the fighters come roaring in

Taking out enemy
forces in a single flyby.

The troops are safe.

Thanks to a near-invisible
force 70,000 feet above them.

Smith: Troops in contact
often won't know what you did

Behind the scenes to
stack the odds in their favor.

There can be many
hundreds of people

Listening to that mission,

And all those folks
focused on doing

What they can
to support you.

Narrator: The u-2 is more
advanced than it has ever been,

But the aging spy plane is about

To face its
fiercest competitor yet.

♪ ♪

The northrup
grumman rq-4 global hawk.

An unmanned, highly
capable, high-altitude drone.

The global hawk can fly at
60,000 feet for over 30 hours.

But it's missing the one thing

The air force
cherishes the most: A pilot.

Wilson:
A human being in a u-2

Can be easily
dynamically re-tasked.

He might have
prepped up for one mission,

But after takeoff he
might have a mission change

And have to adapt immediately.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The last u-2 rolled
off the assembly line in 1989.

The 33 that remain are a far
cry from the original design.

Wilson: The u-2 is not
your father's oldsmobile.

The u-2 is a very sophisticated
reconnaissance system.

They've been re-engined.

They have the most sophisticated
array of sensors known to man.

Narrator: The
pentagon has reported plans

To retire the u-2 by 2019
making way for the global hawk.

But the smart money is on
the u-2 remaining in the fleet

For many years to come.

Grant: There are
pros and cons to each,

But what the air
force has realized

Is that it needs both systems.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The u-2: For over
sixty years it's flown high,

Uncovering enemy secrets
in an ever-changing world.

Olesen: Ever since the cold war,
the u-2's been there to get that

Critical national intelligence
in a timely fashion.

Narrator: It's become
one of the most reliable

Reconnaissance
platforms in the skies today,

Flying nearly
17,000 hours a year.

Grant: The u-2 is now
flying twice as many hours

As it was 20 years ago.

It's never been more in demand.

Narrator:
Demanding the very best

From some of the world's
most experienced pilots.

Wilson: Every aspect
from taxiing, to take off,

To conducting the mission,

And bringing it in
for a landing is tough.

♪ ♪

Narrator: Whenever
threats arise abroad,

Or troops need
guidance from above,

The u-2 is their spy in the sky.