Reconnaissance aircraft
Encyclopedia
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft
designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance
.
aircraft were reconnaissance designs. Aerial reconnaissance was mostly carried out by versions of standard fighters
and bomber
s equipped with cameras until the Cold War
, when the United States developed several dedicated reconnaissance designs, including the U-2
and the SR-71. Today much of the strategic role has passed over to satellites
, and the tactical role to unmanned aerial vehicle
s.
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...
designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
.
History
The majority of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
aircraft were reconnaissance designs. Aerial reconnaissance was mostly carried out by versions of standard fighters
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
and bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s equipped with cameras until the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, when the United States developed several dedicated reconnaissance designs, including the U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
and the SR-71. Today much of the strategic role has passed over to satellites
Spy satellite
A spy satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications....
, and the tactical role to unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s.
See also
- Aerial reconnaissanceAerial reconnaissanceAerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
- Surveillance aircraftSurveillance aircraftA surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance — collecting information over time. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, observation , border patrol and fishery...
- List of United States Air Force Reconnaissance Aircraft
External links
- spyflight
- "A Tale of Two Airplanes" by Kingdon R. "King" Hawes, Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)
- They Brave Death for a Picture: desperate chances taken by the flying camera-men, Popular SciencePopular SciencePopular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
monthly, January 1919, page 18-19, Scanned by Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=HykDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA18 - "Army-Lockheed YO-3A Silent Airplane in Vietnam"