The Lockheed U-2 was designed to keep tabs on the Soviet Union over half a century ago. The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was designed to replace this 50s antique. But how strange you are, fate! The U-2’s replacing its successor.
Reuters reports the Air Force is scrapping the Global Hawk program—which cost the US around $13 billion and ran far over budget (surprise!), in favor of keeping the U-2 flying into 2020. The Global Hawk is a hell of a machine, capable of sweeping the ground from 60,000 feet in the air—for an entire day at a time—with infrared sensors, picking out things to later blow up and eavesdropping on chatter.
https://gizmodo.com/those-air-force-drones-are-bigger-than-you-think-they-a-5877059
But it didn’t work that well. The NYT says the Pentagon showed the drone had serious shortcomings compared to its vintage predecessor:
The new Air Force model was not reliable enough to provide sustained surveillance. Parts failed frequently, and the equipment for intercepting telephone and radio conversations, a vital requirement for replacing the U-2, had trouble pinpointing the source of the calls.
That questionable spying didn’t come cheap—over $200 million for each drone, compared to around a tenth of that for a manned U-2. Add in serious military budget cuts, and you’ve got yourself an easy deathblow to deal.
But wait, aren’t drones supposed to be the future? Yes—which is why this is a little jarring. As mentioned, the U-2 dates back to an era when the White House was terrified of Moscow. A lot’s changed since then. Robots rule the battlefield, and that’s never turning otherwise. There might be a culture of airmen who feel threatened by the futuristic tide—the RQ-4 just graduated its first class of pilots with no airplane experience, ever—but it’s a futile recalcitrance. The drones will win, just as soon as we can afford them. And, you know, they work better than planes from when Elvis was 20. [Reuters, NYT]
