![]() READ MORE: In pictures: Royal International Air Tattoo's best planes and displays over the years However, USAF has had to warn enthusiasts over publicising details of the Dragon Lady's takeoff, lest they compromise their mission. These narrow-bodied high-flying aircraft are part of the US Air Force's (USAF) 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron that is working from the base.ĭespite usually being shrouded in secrecy with little public ability to watch the Dragon Lady up close, their nearly four-year deployment to RAF Fairford has given local aviation enthusiasts plenty of opportunity to see the legendary cold war spy plane up close, with the Gloucestershire airbase's perimeter fence running next to a public road. The stealth aircraft have become a common sight over Gloucestershire for those able to make out the more than 60-year-old spy plane's signature silhouette and c-shaped contrail, climbing each day to more than 70,000 feet above the ground and out of radar range on their way to conduct sorties over Eastern Europe and other areas. The history-making aircraft, often nicknamed the "Dragon Lady" by pilots and crew, is involved in intelligence gathering. U-2 spy planes are flying out of RAF Fairford on daily missions to provide "overwatch" for Ukraine as Russian forces continue their illegal invasion of the country, reports suggest. ![]()
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