U-2 flygerne med ny "klokke" - Avionics

‘Dragon Lady’ Pilots Get Wrist-Mounted Nav by Garmin

By Nick Zazulia | February 14, 2018

Garmin, GPS, Lockheed Martin, military, U-2, US Fair Force, WAAS, watch

 
 
 
 
 

The U.S. Air Force selected the Garmin D2 Charlie for its Lockheed U-2 pilots. (Photo courtesy Garmin)

The U.S. Air Force has selected the Garmin D2 Charlie watch for inclusion in the toolkits of Lockheed U-2 “Dragon Lady” reconnaissance aircraft pilots.

The D2 Charlie features GPS and wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) capability, full-color maps, a barometer and a 70,000-foot service ceiling. A pilot can also access airport, runway and weather data, as well as a flight log through the D2 Charlie. Outside of aviation-specific jobs, the watch – which is commercially available as well— functions as an activity and heart-rate monitor and completes normal smartwatch tasks when paired with a cell phone. According to the company, it boasts 20 hours of battery life in GPS mode and up to 12 days in smartwatch mode.

Garmin said that the Air Force is expected to take delivery of more than 100 D2 Charlies for its U-2 pilots.