U-2 from Cold War to Afghanistan

And so it is. Because of updates in its powerful sensors,it has become the most sought-after spy craft in a very different war in Afghanistan. As it shifts from hunting for nuclear missiles to detecting roadside bombs,it is outshining even the unmanned drones in gathering intelligence used to fight the Taliban.

All this is a remarkable change from the U-2s early days in United States-Soviet espionage. Built to find Soviet missiles,it became famous when Francis Gary Powers was shot down in one while streaking across the Soviet Union in 1960,and again when another U-2 took the photographs that set off the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Newer versions of the plane have gathered intelligence in every war since then.

Now the U-2 and its pilots are in direct radio contact with US troops in Afghanistan. The U-2 is in its prime again, said Lt. Col. Jason M. Brown,who commands an intelligence squadron that plans the missions and analyses much of the data. It can do things that nothing else can do.

One of those things,improbably enough,is that even from 13 miles up,its sensors can detect small disturbances in the dirt,providing a new way to find makeshift mines.

In the weeks leading up to the recent offensive in Marja,Afghanistan,military officials said,several of the 32 remaining U-2s found nearly 150 possible mines in roads and helicopter landing areas. In addition,the U-2s altitude,once a defence against anti-aircraft missiles,enables it to scoop up signals from insurgent phone conversations that mountains would otherwise block.

As a result,Colonel Brown said,the U-2 is often able to collect information that suggests where to send the Predator and Reaper drones,which take video and also fire missiles.

But the plane,nicknamed the Dragon Lady,is difficult to fly,and missions are gruelling and dangerous. The U-2s commute each day from a base near the Persian Gulf,and the trip can last nine to 12 hours. Pilots eat meals squeezed through tubes and wear spacesuits because their blood would literally boil if they had to eject unprotected at such a high altitude.

As the number of flights increases,some of the planes 60 pilots have suffered from the same disorienting illness,known as the bends,that afflicts deep-sea divers who ascend too quickly. As a safety measure,U-2 pilots start breathing pure oxygen an hour before takeoff to reduce the nitrogen in their bodies and cut the risk of decompression sickness.

One pilot,Maj. Eric M. Shontz,hopped on an elliptical machine for 10 minutes before a practice flight to help dispel the nitrogen faster. He and other U-2 pilots say the planes gradually became more integrated in the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But since the flights over Afghanistan began to surge in early 2009,the U-2s have become a much more fluid part of the daily battle plan.

Over beers at the clubhouse back home in the US,decorated with scrolls honouring the heroes of their small fraternity,U-2 pilots say they know their aircrafts reprieve will last only so long. And the U-2s replacement sits right across the basethe Global Hawk,a remote-controlled drone that flies almost as high as the U-2 and typically stays aloft for 24 hours or more.

But a larger model that could also intercept communications has been delayed. So officials say it will most likely be 2013 at the earliest before the U-2 is phased into retirement.

Weve needed to be nimble to stay relevant, said Doug P. McMahon,a major who has flown the U-2 for three years. But eventually its bound to end.