{"id":332660,"date":"2025-12-19T04:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/how-many-u-2-spy-planes-built\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T04:00:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:00:16","slug":"how-many-u-2-spy-planes-were-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=332660","title":{"rendered":"How Many U-2 Spy Planes Were Built?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lockheed U-2 ‘Dragon Lady’ spy plane is famously one of the oldest aircraft types in service with theUnited States Air Force<\/a><\/span>. The aircraft is a relic of the Cold War and first entered service in the 1950s, before playing a critical role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, the type remains in service, although it is constantly flirting with retirement. Congress has blocked retirements, but the aircraft is expected to start retiring within a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around a third remain in operation today with the USAF and NASA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,12466,423,1328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aircraft","category-lockheed-u-2","category-united-states","category-united-states-air-force"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t