re: U2 view of the Chinese "Weather" Balloon

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I'd beat that there is a newer airframe that is also operational.

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Man, I just read some stuff on Lockheed's website about the U-2/U-2S (had no idea we had a variant either) that says we maintain and operate a fleet of 31 U-2's. I figured we had maybe 5-10 since it was such a specialized platform. But they have been continuously upgrading the thing for 65 years or so now and have made it a high tech, high altitude AWACS sort of with all the sensor packages and communications upgrades they've done to the plane.

It can deliver reali-time data to 5th generation fighters, other support aircraft, ground troops, and maritime assets simultaneously.

It just really caught me by surprise that we still operate such a big fleet considering the mission-specific quality it was developed as. I will say that one thing our military does get right is adjusting the roles of some of the older aircraft like the A10, B52, AC130 etc. They were all built with specific missions in mind and have been adapted well beyond their planned service length and upgraded for modern objectives.