Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including a collection of imagery intelligence (including photography), signals intelligence, and measurement and signature intelligence. Modern technology has also enabled some aircraft and UAVs to carry out real-time surveillance in addition to general intelligence gathering. Before the development of devices such as radar, military forces relied on reconnaissance aircraft for visual observation and scouting enemy movement [Definitions.net].
Aircraft have been a fundamental part of military power since the mid-20th century. Generally speaking, all military aircraft fall into one of the following categories: fighters, which secure control of essential airspaces by driving off or destroying enemy aircraft; bombers, which are larger, heavier, and less-maneuverable craft designed to attack surface targets with bombs or missiles; ground-support, or attack, aircraft, which operate at lower altitudes than bombers and air-superiority fighters and attack tanks, troop formations, and other ground targets; transport and cargo planes, big-bodied craft with large amounts of interior space for carrying weapons, equipment, supplies, and troops over moderate or long distances; helicopters, which are rotary-winged aircraft used for ground support, for transporting assault troops, and for short-distance transport and surveillance; and unmanned aerial vehicles, which are remotely controlled or autonomously guided aircraft that carry sensors, target designators, electronic transmitters, and even offensive weapons.
At the outbreak of World War I, the heavier-than-air craft was used only for visual reconnaissance since their feeble engines could carry little more than a pilot and, in some cases, an observer aloft.
More powerful engines and better aircraft designs soon made possible specialized reconnaissance aircraft that could fly at high altitudes to avoid interception.Radios were carried aloft to permit aerial observers to spot and adjust artillery fire, at first with transmitters only. Then, radios became lighter, with receivers for two-way communication.
Military aircraft. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/technology/military-aircraft/World-War-I
What does reconnaissance aircraft mean? Definitions.net. Retrieved from: https://www.definitions.net/definition/reconnaissance+aircraft