In the fall of 1967, the US Navy sent an inquiry to the Lockheed Skunk Works about the possibility of operating the then-new U-2R Dragon Lady high altitude reconnaissance aircraft from an aircraft carrier. One aircraft (carrying the civilian registration N812X) received a retractable tail hook and other minor modifications. Testing aboard the USS America (CVA-66) began in late November 1969. Lockheed test pilot Bill Park made a series of waveoffs and landings and the aircraft was even taken down to the hangar deck. Four other pilots were later qualified. The long range of the U-2R rendered carrier operations unnecessary, as there were very few spots of interest a Dragon Lady pilot couldn’t reach from a land base.
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Заголовок сообщения: Re: U-2 / TR-1
Добавлено: 10 окт 2014, 16:27
Ранние итерации:
Из книги "Skunk Works" Джея Миллера
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Заголовок сообщения: Re: U-2 / TR-1
Добавлено: 10 окт 2014, 16:40
Крупный план отваливающегося колёсика:
Кокпит U-2A:
И современный кокпит U-2S
Eldarado
Заголовок сообщения: Re: U-2 / TR-1
Добавлено: 10 окт 2014, 17:31
Зарегистрирован: 27 авг 2009, 10:54 Сообщений: 11518 Откуда: такие только берутся
Зарегистрирован: 27 авг 2009, 10:54 Сообщений: 11518 Откуда: такие только берутся
ЕМНИП, для посадки на авианосец было переоборудовано 3 или 4 самолёта. После того, как ей присобачили два огроменных топливных бака, надобность в этом изврате отпала.
Lockheed Martin Shares More Insight, But No Images of TR-X by Bill Carey - March 24, 2016, 10:57 AM
Lockheed Martin believes the next generation, high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform should be both survivable and affordable. With this in mind, the company has designed its proposed U-2 replacement—the TR-X—to be a low observable, high-flying unmanned aircraft that reuses the U-2’s engine and accommodates current or future sensors for ISR or other missions.
As envisioned, the TR-X “really merges the capabilities of U-2” and the U.S. Air Force’s other high-altitude ISR platform, the unmanned RQ-4B Global Hawk, “in a very affordable way,” said Scott Winstead, Lockheed Martin’s U-2 business development manager. “With the U-2 fleet and the Global Hawk fleet, they’ve got a high-altitude ISR capacity that they’ve become comfortable with. If you take the U-2 away, that capacity drops to less than half. What we’re offering is something to get beyond this Global Hawk/U-2 issue.”
Lockheed Martin proposes a 10-year program that would deliver 30 aircraft; if it were contained in the Department of Defense program objective memorandum for Fiscal Year 2020, the TR-X (meaning “tactical reconnaissance”) would begin replacing the current high-altitude ISR fleet in the 2030 time frame, Winstead said. It would first replace the aging U-2, which the Air Force currently plans to retire in 2019.
The company revealed plans for the TR-X at the Air Force Association Air & Space Conference last September, and provided an artist’s impression showing an aircraft with swept wings, top-mounted engine inlet and canted, V-shaped empennage. Its Skunk Works advanced development unit has since achieved “higher fidelity” of the TR-X design, but has decided not to release any images, Winstead said.
Nevertheless, at Lockheed Martin’s annual media day on March 15, Winstead filled in more details on the TR-X, which he confirmed will be unmanned and air refuelable. The aircraft’s maximum takeoff weight will be around 54,000 pounds, more than the U-2 at 40,000 pounds and the Global Hawk at 32,250, with a 5,000-pound payload capacity. It will have a single engine—the same General Electric F118-101 turbofan that powers the U-2, but rated at maximum 19,000-pound thrust. (The U-2’s engine was derated to 17,000 pounds.) It will also use the same 45 kVA generator as the U-2, but with design space for an expansion to 65- or 75 kVAs, providing even more power for its radar or other mission equipment such as a high-energy laser or communications relay, Winstead said.
With a single engine, the TR-X will be able to fly to 70,000 feet—77,000 feet was determined as the optimal altitude, but that would require two engines, Winstead said. The aircraft will have the same 130-foot wingspan as the Global Hawk to prevent basing issues with existing hangars. It will have a newly designed, straight wing, which is not characteristic of a stealth aircraft, complemented by “low-observable (LO) shaping.” The LO shaping and electronic countermeasures will be its defense against detection by surface-to-air missile systems.
Winstead described air defenses as a “bubble” that protect an adversary nation from being penetrated by surveillance or other aircraft. The TR-X will provide ISR to the edge of the bubble. “It is survivable; it’s not unnoticeable,” he said. “You’re not going to get enough radar return for a missile to track and destroy you. It’s not designed to go inside the bubble. That’s why it’s so affordable, because you’re looking at a peacetime asset that is going to be out there operating every single day that now has some wartime capability. We’re designing it to compress the bubble as much as possible.”
Lockheed Unveils ‘TR-X’ As Next-Generation U-2 By Lara Seligman 8:21 a.m. EDT September 16, 2015
Lockheed Martin revealed its Skunk Works proposal for a next-generation U-2 spy plane, a tactical reconnaissance aircraft called “TR-X.”(Photo: Lockheed Martin)
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin this week revealed its Skunk Works proposal for a next-generation U-2 spy plane, a tactical reconnaissance aircraft called “TR-X.”
As the Air Force looks to retire Lockheed’s U-2 Dragon Lady in 2019, the company has come up with a next-generation replacement, Scott Winstead, strategic business manager for the U-2 program, told reporters on Monday at the Air Force Association’s annual conference. Lockheed is still shaping the capabilities of TR-X, a high-altitude aircraft that is designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions for decades to come.
TR-X will look very much like the U-2, taking advantage of the spy plane’s General Electric F118 engine and with a similar modular payload capability. The concept is for a low-observable aircraft designed to fly at 70,000 feet, Winstead said.
Lockheed is looking into increased power and cooling to accommodate new sensors, electronic warfare suites, and a more advanced communications system with the ability to communicate with both fourth and fifth-generation fighter jets, Winstead said. The plane will comply with the Air Force’s Open Mission Systems standards to keep up with technology advances, and may even employ offensive and defensive laser weapons in future.
While Lockheed pitched the TR-X to reporters here on Monday, the team has yet to brief the Air Force on the new concept, Lt. Gen. Robert Otto, deputy chief of staff for ISR, told reporters later that day.
For now, the Air Force is not committing to TR-X or any other next-generation U-2 concept, Otto said. The service just doesn’t have the resources right now to maintain two high-altitude ISR platforms — the U-2 and Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk — as well as develop a new concept.
“Both U-2 and Global Hawk have legs well into the late 20s, I think you are into the 30s, maybe into the 40s in terms of how long those platforms could last before they are deemed not airworthy,” Otto said, noting that the Air Force is upgrading the Global Hawk with new capabilities. “The issue for me is we don’t have the money to afford two high-altitude ISR platforms.”
A next-generation high-altitude ISR platform would need to be stealthy to penetrate contested air space, and stealth historically drives huge cost increases, Otto emphasized.
Otto likened the U-2 debate to the Air Force’s controversial attempt to retire the A-10 close-attack aircraft.
“That was the same thought behind the A-10 — not that we don’t love the A-10, we do, we just can't afford it,” Otto said. “So similarly I think with the Global Hawk and the U-2 is, you know, we love the U-2, we can’t afford both platforms.”
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