U2 down in Asia

[Dont Hurt Me]

Cnn is reporting we have a U2 down in Asia, military aint saying where. It like the vietnam days again. Ill try to get good link. no one else is reporting it yet.

[WinterMute]

There's a sign of the times, I read this under a "new posts" search and thought you were discussing an extension of the U2 world tour.

I was wondering how Bono's brand of hectoring polemic would go down in the People's Republic of North Korea.:D

I didn't know you were still using U2's, is it still the case that the altitude they fly at is considered above sovereign airspace?

Or is it just that no-one can see them up there...?

[Dont Hurt Me]

Still nothing much at Cnn or anywhere else, Hope my Title doesnt give a bunch U2 fans a bloody heart attack. I would guess spying on the Crazy North Korean Kim (i love brown clothes) whatever his name is. Hope the Pilot landed anywhere but in North Korea. edit looks like its being reported out of Iraq so its probably..............pure speculation but looking over Iran. Here we go again.

[stubeeef]

Heard the pilot died in a crash during landing in UAE.

[Nickygoat]

There's a sign of the times, I read this under a "new posts" search and thought you were discussing an extension of the U2 world tour.

I was wondering how Bono's brand of hectoring polemic would go down in the People's Republic of North Korea.:D

I didn't know you were still using U2's, is it still the case that the altitude they fly at is considered above sovereign airspace?

Or is it just that no-one can see them up there...?
I read it that way too :D . The USAF are still using them (http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=129), just not on highly sensitive missions as they're a bit 'flaky'. They're still in sovereign airspace no matter how high they fly, and they're still visible on radar (pre-stealth).

[mactastic]

Yeah since we took down the SR-71s (and even before then IIRC) we still use the U2. I thought the drones had pretty much taken over the duty though. Heard any confirmation about this yet?

BTW, I though Bono and crowd had gone down in Asia somewhere too. And wasn't too sad about it either. :p

[Dont Hurt Me]

You would think with satellite advances and drones their wouldnt be a need. I mean please we spend Billions on these things and they cant even point them to whats going on???? Why is the military spending billions and billions on satellites if it cant even see the surface of the planet in places that need it.????????

[Nickygoat]

You would think with satellite advances and drones their wouldnt be a need. I mean please we spend Billions on these things and they cant even point them to whats going on???? Why is the military spending billions and billions on satellites if it cant even see the surface of the planet in places that need it.????????
Because satellites don't provide enough coverage of specific areas at specific times. And re-tasking them is expensive and time consuming. They're great for checking on things like building sites and convoy movements (they pass every 45 mins or so) but not good for real time information. UAVs tend not to provide enough coverage (depends on how large the battlefield is), and aren't fast enough to get between 2 areas.

[joepunk]

Also, with satellites, you can track them and figure out when they will pass over. That way people can move equipment around without the worry of a spy satellite until the next one passes and by then the equipment would have been hidden.

That is my understanding.