Vintage Spy Plane Gives High-Tech Drone A Run For Its Money

In the early days of the Cold War, the U-2 spy plane helped the U.S. collect intelligence on Soviet military operations. It was a relatively unknown aircraft until May 1, 1960, when U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers crashed one in the Soviet Union. (Powers spent nearly two years in Soviet prisons before he was released.)

Now, the Air Force says it wants to scale back funding for an expensive hi-tech surveillance drone in favor of the more affordable, manned U-2 aircraft.

At 57 years old, the U-2 still looks like an experimental plane, but it has been adapted to stay relevant. Doug Lantry, a historian with the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, says the plane was given longer wings and a much more powerful, more reliable engine.