Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the
military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. It is part of
combat intelligence. Compare to
counterintelligence. Compare also to
surveillance, which is passive gathering of information.
Often referred to as
recce (British & Commonwealth) or
recon (USA), the associated
verb is
reconnoitre in
British English or reconnoiter in
American English.
Examples of reconnaissance include
patrolling by troops, ships,
submarines, or
aircraft, or by setting up
covert observation posts. Reconnaissance may also be carried out by
satellites or unmanned aircraft.
Espionage is not normally considered to be covered by the term reconnaissance, as reconnaissance involves uniformed military forces operating ahead of the main force, as opposed to non-combatant individuals within the enemy lines.
Reconnaissance seeks to collect information about an enemy. This includes types of enemy units, locations, numbers, and intentions or activity. A number of acronyms exist for the information to be gathered â€" mainly coined by the US â€" including
salt (size, activity, location, and time),
salute (size, activity, location, unit, time, and equipment),
sam & doc (strength, armament, movement, deployment, organization, and communications). Thus reconnaissance is a fundamental tactic which helps to build an intelligence picture.
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Reconnaissance photographs, such as this one of Soviet missile installations, played a key role in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. |
Main article: Surveillance aircraft
On
16 October 1912 a
Bulgarian Albatros aircraft was used to perform Europe's first reconnaissance flight in combat conditions.
During the
First World War, photo reconnaissance was one of the early uses of the aeroplane. Aviators such as
Fred Zinn evolved an entire range of new flying and photography techniques to use the new technology in the equally new environment of
trench warfare.
Before the
Second World War the conventional wisdom was to use converted
bomber types for airborne photo reconnaissance. These bombers retained their defensive armament, which was vital since they were unable to avoid interception.
In 1939
Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom of the
RAF was among the first to suggest that airborne reconnaissance may be a task better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to avoid detection and interception. Although this seems obvious now, with modern reconnaissance tasks performed by fast, high flying aircraft, at the time it was radical thinking. He proposed the use of
Spitfires with their armament and
radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras. This led to the development of the
Spitfire PR variants. Spitfires proved to be extremely successful in their reconnaissance role and there were many variants built specifically for that purpose.
Immediately after World War II, long range aerial reconnaissance was taken up by adapted jet bombers â€" such as the
English Electric Canberra, and its American development, the
Martin B-57 â€" capable of flying higher or faster than the enemy. After the
Korean War,
RB-47 aircraft were used. These were at first converted B-47 jet bombers, but later these were purposely built RB-47 reconnaissance planes. They did not carry any bombs. They had large cameras mounted in the belly of the plane, and with a truncated bomb bay used for carrying flash bombs.
The onset of the
Cold War led the development of highly specialized and secretive strategic reconnaissance aircraft, or
spy planes, such as the
Lockheed U-2 and its successor, the
SR-71 Blackbird (both from the
United States). Flying these aircraft became an exceptionally demanding task, as much because of the aircraft's extreme speed and altitude as it was because of the risk of being captured as . As a result, the crews of these aircraft were invariably specially selected and trained.
Some military elements tasked with reconnaissance are armed only for self-defence, and rely on stealth to gather information. Others are well-enough armed to also deny information from the enemy by destroying their reconnaissance elements.
Reconnaissance in force (RIF) is a type of
military operation used specifically to probe an enemy's disposition. By mounting an offensive with considerable (but not decisive) force, the commander hopes to elicit a strong reaction by the enemy that reveals its own strength, deployment, and other tactical data. The RIF commander retains the option to fall back with the data or expand the conflict into a full engagement.
Reconnaissance by fire (or
speculative fire, 'spec fire') is a
tactic which applies a similar principle. When not trying to be stealthy, reconnaissance units may fire on likely enemy positions to provoke a reaction.
*
Special Reconnaissance Regiment*
United States Marine Corps*
U.S. Marine Corps Radio Reconnaissance*
U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance* U.S. Army
Long Range Surveillance*
Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance*
The South Alberta Light Horse *
The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC) *
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC)*
Reconnaissance and Surveillance Operationsâ€"Canadian Land Forces manual about armoured reconnaissance (PDF)
*
Israeli Special Forces Recon Units at isayeret.com
