Secretive spy plane tracked over Scotland at 60,000 ft
On Friday morning at around 10am, a U-2 was tracked by aviation enthusiasts on global flight tracking service Flightradar24 as it flew over the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute.
U-2s are based at the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base in California, but are rotated to operational detachments worldwide.
(Image: Flightradar24) The fleet regularly operates from both RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and RAF Fairford in the UK.
One of the most distinctive aircraft in the United States Air Force, the U-2 was designed early in the Cold War to overfly and photograph military activities in the Soviet Union and other communist countries.
The first U-2 flight over the Soviet Union took place on July 4, 1956, and it brought back photos of Leningrad's shipyards.
During the Cold War, the U-2 flew from bases around the world, including the UK, France, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Pakistan, South Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
READ MORE:
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Nicknamed "Dragon Lady" after a comic strip character of the 1930s, the unique high-flying reconnaissance jet has been used by the U.S. Air Force, CIA and NASA.
Routinely flown at altitudes over 70,000 feet, the U-2 pilot must wear a full pressure suit similar to those worn by astronauts.
In January, a U-2 Dragon Lady was tracked flying over the Ayrshire coast at an altitude of 60,000 ft on its way to RAF Fairford.
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