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According to a 2023 article in the Eurasian Times

The most notable USAF presence was at the Badaber air base of PAF near Peshawar, operating U-2, the most advanced surveillance aircraft of its era, in fact, even today. U-2 operations suddenly ended on May 1, 1960, when Gary Powers was shot down over the USSR and taken prisoner. Despite 61 years having passed, the Skunk Works hangar at Badaber Airbase remains locked and keyed by Americans.

Is the last/highlighted sentence true? Does the US still control access to that fabled hangar, in Pakistan?

(The article is bylined by a Gp Cpt TP Srivastava, who seem to be an [ex] Indian MiG pilot and "chief instructor at the College of Air Warfare" according to his mini-bio in another piece. Also, Wikipedia cites an anti-US-bases website to claim that "since 2021" there are 65 US personnel at Badaber. That website in turn references an unspecified 2023 Eurasian Times article, which might be [another] one penned by our Group Captain.)

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    Skunk Works is the nickname of one of the R&D teams at Lockheed Martin. I'm somewhat mystified by the claim. Is the claim that Lockheed Martin has a secret R&D project in Pakistan?
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Commented Sep 4 at 20:03
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    @JörgWMittag The Lockheed Skunk Works made the U2 and employees would often deploy with the aircraft.
    – Schwern
    Commented Sep 4 at 20:10
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    PAF Badaber seems to be a non-flying facility with no hangars, runways etc. PAF Peshawar is the airbase attached to the local airport, from which both civilian and military flights are conducted - it was from this airfield that U-2s were flown, not Badaber.
    – Moo
    Commented Sep 6 at 8:38
  • "Locked and keyed by Americans" seem open to many interpretations. There are seemingly no US military bases in Pakistan (according to the Pakistan government). Is this hanger owned by an American company? Is it alleged that the hanger was locked when the Americans left? (Unlikely that the Pakistan government couldn't have found a way to get into a locked hanger if they wanted.)
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Sep 7 at 14:25

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Unlikely, given that PAF Base Badaber is a non-flying PAF facility positioned several miles to the south east of the nearest runway, and has no runway, taxiways or hangars.

U-2 flights for the US were conducted from PAF Base Peshawar, which is the nearest runway to Badaber - PAF Peshawar shares its facilities with Bacha Khan International Airport.

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