atpcliff

The GH has a wingspan about that of a 727, and flies up to 65,000', with a mission time of a couple of days.

I was recently reading about a new UAV, with the wingspan of about a 747, that flies up to about 85,000', and has a mission time of about 12 days. Trying to find more info now, but so far no luck....read about it some months ago.

cliff
HSV

HueyHerc

...and half the mission payload of a U-2.

HH

Ftrooppilot

Which is half the mission payload of a WB-57F (RB-57F) with a systems operator to run all of it. Actually the "F" has a 1,000 lb higher payload but the cubic space available in the "bomb bay" is "big." In the 1960s we carrier a camera that was the size of a VW.

LivingInMEM

That's an impressive payload (sts), but it's not always about the size of the sensor. These aren't bombs, these are intelligence platforms. Bigger and better cameras (especially film cameras) were the sensor of choice during the cold war when strategic intelligence reigned supreme, but tactical intelligence is a whole different animal.

Sometimes what the COCOMs need is persistent SA that may or may not be imint. There is usually value in the traditional imagery analysis after the flight's over, but in today's wars the decision-makers more often need to know what's going on right now for days on end. They all have their place, but it's usually about the right tool at the right time, not the biggest tool for a short duration of time.

BFMthisA10

...which can now be handled with a camera the size of a VW...carburetor.
...then transmit the image across the globe with a 3 second delay.

wait, what were we talking about again?

Grumble

Whats a carburetor???

HueyHerc

U-2 does both imint and sigint, simultaneously, real time...and has for 35+ years. GH killed itself by over-promising and under-delivering for over a decade. It never reached parity with the U-2 and that's why it was chopped.

HH

LivingInMEM

Huey, read the posts. My post was clearly a reference to ftroop and his picture of an imint payload.

As for the rest of my post, you missed the days on end part. The U-2 has great sensors, but not the persistence that the commanders need in today's counter-insurgency limited boots on the ground conflict. Virtual presence beats no presence. Simultaneous, persistent, re-taskable near real-time SAR, IMINT, and SIGINT can be invaluable to a COCOM.

I am not a fan of the GH, it is a mis-managed under-performing asset. However, if BAMS can do what they intend to, most of those limitations will be eliminated. Regardless, my posts have never been a my plane vs your plane argument; it's effects and deliverables. Given time, engineers can make an RPA that approaches U-2 fidelity with RPA endurance and range. They will nevet make a U-2 approach RPA endurance or range. That's not advocacy, it's realism.

HuggyU2

Only 3 that I can think of (out of over 900 U-2 pilots in the history of The Program).
One is Ed Walby. He retired back in the 90's, is the GH's Director of Business Development, and is often the guy you see in media interviews.
Of the other two pilots, one is a contractor and one is active duty military.