14 April 2020:Lockheed Martin was recently awarded a USD 50 million contract by US Air Force to evolve the U-2 Dragon Lady to support future battle space needs.
The Avionics Tech Refresh contract includes the following upgrades to the Dragon Lady:
- An updated avionics suite that modernizes the U-2's on board systems to readily accept and use new technology.
- A new mission computer designed to the US Air Force's open mission systems (OMS) standard that enables the U-2 to integrate with systems across air, space, sea, land and cyber domains at disparate security levels.
- New, modern cockpit displays to make everyday pilot tasks easier while enhancing presentation of the data the aircraft collects to enable faster, better informed decisions.
"As a proven, agile and reliable aircraft, the U-2S is the most capable high-altitude ISR system in the fleet today. The Avionics Tech Refresh contract will continue our commitment of providing a premier aircraft to our war fighters, ensuring global security now and into the future," said Irene Helley, U-2 program director.
Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will lead the design, integration and test of the new advanced aircraft components, which will enable the U-2 to be the first fully OMS-compliant fleet. Interim fielding is anticipated to begin in mid-2021, with fleet modification expected in early 2022.