The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, high-altitude (70,000 feet, 21,300 meters), all-weather intelligence gathering.Lockheed Corporation originally proposed it in 1953, it was approved in 1954, and its first test flight was in 1955.U-2s have taken part in post-Cold War conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations.