According to Lockheed Martin press relleas the successful first flight tested the new advanced capabilities aboard the U-2 as part of the ATR contract, including:
An updated avionics suite (communications, navigation, display, etc.) that modernises the U-2’s onboard systems to readily accept and use new technology.
Read more: Ukraine Might Get Fewer F-16s Because of Argentina and China: Small World of Arms Deals and Politics
A new mission computer designed for the U.S. 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.
![](https://en.defence-ua.com/media/contentimages/f4c65132d9cdf77c.jpg)
New modern cockpit displays to make pilot tasks easier, while enhancing the presentation of the data the aircraft collects to enable faster, better-informed decisions.
During this mission, the aircraft successfully performed a low-altitude functional check flight to integrate new avionics, cabling and software.
“The successful first flight of the U-2 Avionics Tech Refresh is a significant moment in our journey to rapidly and affordably field new capabilities,” said Sean Thatcher, U-2 Avionics Tech Refresh program manager at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. “Leveraging the platform’s open architecture, we’re expediting these capabilities needed for the future Joint All-Domain Operations battlespace.”
The ATR’s first flight marks a milestone in the U-2’s modernisation efforts and its path to becoming the first fully OMS-compliant fleet. Further testing will solidify a mature software baseline before mission systems are introduced to ensure both functionality and interoperability to meet operational needs.
The U-2 ATR contract was awarded by the U.S. Air Force in 2020 and valued at $50 million
The U-2S Dragon Lady is an agile and reliable high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft that flies 24/7/365 to ensure global security with unparalleled performance.
This proven ISR track record paired with technological flexibility positions the U-2 as the optimum platform to rapidly field new payload capabilities, given its demonstrated open architecture and superior size, weight, power and cooling (SWAP-C) capacity. These key attributes, in addition to its modern Open Mission Systems (OMS) compliant avionics suite, make the U-2 the platform of choice to demonstrate new capabilities faster and more cost-effectively for a Joint All-Domain Operations vision.
The future fight is all about data – getting the right information to the right person at the right time. The Quantum Leap U-2 is effectively positioned to rapidly collect, process and share data across integrated networks that include legacy and 5th-generation platforms.
By using machine-to-machine processing to dramatically reduce the data to decision timeline, the U-2 can communicate securely and simultaneously at all tactical, operational and strategic levels across multiple domains. Additionally, the Avionics Tech Refresh expedites battlespace capabilities needed for the future, making the U-2 the first fully OMS-compliant fleet, providing the ability to plug-and-play new capabilities quickly and affordably to support future battlespace operations.
Read more: Ukraine Shot Down 91% of the Kalibr Missiles and All the Shahed Drones, But the Issue with Oniks Missiles Remains