Washington—Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), along with congressional colleagues wrote Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James requesting the military reconsider retiring the U-2 aircraft in 2019 to prevent a gap in high altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection.

“Rather than seeking to retire the U-2, we encourage the Air Force to consider continuing to fly a mixed fleet of both U-2 and Global Hawk aircraft to prevent a gap in both capability and capacity. While we appreciate your support for near-term capability upgrades to the U-2’s radar and sensors, further investment in the aircraft is limited due to its retirement date. Deferring the retirement of the U-2 would also allow the Air Force time to plan for follow-on systems capable of meeting the full spectrum of high altitude ISR requirements well into the future,” the members of Congress wrote.

The full text of the letter follows:

June 17, 2016

The Honorable Deborah Lee James
Secretary
United States Air Force
1670 Air Force Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20330

Dear Secretary James:

We write today to urge the Air Force to defer the retirement of the U-2 aircraft in order to prevent a possible gap in high altitude Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) collection beyond FY2019.

As you know, demand by Combatant Commanders for ISR is increasing. At the same time, current Defense Department plans call for the retirement of the U-2 in 2019 with no plan that we are aware of to replace lost ISR capacity.

We understand that the U-2 fleet has almost 80% of its airframe life remaining, making it sustainable well beyond FY2019. Retirement of the U-2 in the coming years is expected to result in a reduction in high altitude ISR capacity, including the loss of the U-2’s unique intelligence gathering capabilities.

Rather than seeking to retire the U-2, we encourage the Air Force to consider continuing to fly a mixed fleet of both U-2 and Global Hawk aircraft to prevent a gap in both capability and capacity. While we appreciate your support for near-term capability upgrades to the U-2’s radar and sensors, further investment in the aircraft is limited due to its retirement date. Deferring the retirement of the U-2 would also allow the Air Force time to plan for follow-on systems capable of meeting the full spectrum of high altitude ISR requirements well into the future.

In conclusion, we urge the Air Force to defer the retirement of the U-2 in order to ensure that our Combatant Commanders have the ISR they require.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
U.S. Senator

Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator

Kevin McCarthy
Member of Congress

Adam B. Schiff
Member of Congress

Ken Calvert
Member of Congress

Loretta Sanchez
Member of Congress

Devin Nunes
Member of Congress

John Garamendi
Member of Congress

Doug LaMalfa
Member of Congress

Ted W. Lieu
Member of Congress

Steve Knight
Member of Congress

Eric Swalwell
Member of Congress

Tony Cárdenas
Member of Congress

Alan Lowenthal
Member of Congress

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