According to the announcement on Garmin’s official website, United States Air Force selects Garmin® D2 Charlie aviator watch, stating that the United States Air Force will provide 100 D2 Charlie aviator watches to U-2 pilots to serve as backup GPS devices within the cockpit.

Garmin International, Inc. a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced that the D2™ Charlie aviator watch has been selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) for use by the pilots of the Lockheed U-2 aircraft. The high-sensitivity WAAS GPS-enabled D2 Charlie aviator watch incorporates global navigation capability, rich and colorful moving maps and more, providing pilots in the USAF with an exclusive, back-up navigation timepiece in the cockpit.

With a service ceiling of 70,000 feet, the D2 Charlie will provide unique benefits such as barometric-based O2 alerting and GPS-specific features including track, distance to the next waypoint, estimated time enroute and more.

According to the above statement, the D2 Charlie can provide barometric altitude alerts, GPS tracks, distance and time to the next Waypoint, and other information at an altitude of 70,000 feet.

U-2 is a famous reconnaissance aircraft (spy plane) from the Cold War era of the last century. It is surprising that it is still in service in the 21st century.