FREE ESSAY ON DEVELOPMENT OF SPY PLANES

DEVELOPMENT OF SPY PLANES

Development of Spy Aircraft
21 February 2000
Since the beginning of time there has always been conflict and inevitably war. Because of
war, it is logical that enemies would seek out information about each other in order to
increase their own chances of survival. Reconnaissance would be the proper terminology
for gathering this information. There are many ways in which to gather reconnaissance,
however I am going to talk about aerial reconnaissance and the use of spy aircraft as a
method of acquiring important information. The first documented evidence of aerial
reconnaissance was in 1794 when Captain J.M.J. used his captive balloon to observe his
enemy at the Battle of Fleurus. The first documented use of airplane reconnaissance was
in 1911, when Italian Captain Piazza spent an hour in his Blerot making notes on the
Turkish positions between Azizia and Triopoli. The next year in 1912, this same pilot
recorded the first aerial reconnaissance sortie using a camera. These first methods of
reconnaissance were very cumbersome events because the cameras of those days would fill
your entire lap. Because it greatly increased range of sight, it was extremely
advantageous to observe from a higher elevation. For example, an average 6ft man can see
approximately 3 miles, however, when put in an aircraft 65 feet above the earth's
surface, his horizon increase to 10 miles. Moreover, put him in an aircraft 35,000 ft
above the earth's surface and his horizon is no less than 230 miles. This paradigm shift
in intelligence would lead to astounding innovations in aerial reconnaissance within this
century.
The Great War (World War I) was basically a ground war, which consisted of bloody
fighting throughout an immense system of interconnected trenches. Because of this, each
side needed a reliable source of intelligence about each other's movements At the
beginning of the Great War aircraft had only been used as an effective fighting machine.
After realizing that these high-flying aircraft could observe and bring back panoramic
photographs of enemy fortifications and movements, each side began modifying aircraft to
carry large cameras of the time. Most of the modifications were very simple, consisting
of a hole cut in the bottom of the fuselage through which your back gunner could point
and operate the camera. However, more often than not, the back gunner just basically
manhandled this large robust camera into position when a target was sighted. In either
case, by the end of the Great War in 1918 more than 90,000 people on all fronts, produced
roughly 12,000 large photographic prints a day. Also, the quality and reliability of
these photos were unimagined four years earlier. Pressure of four years of war had
transformed aerial reconnaissance into a routine operation using extremely large but very
good cameras designed for the job. (Gunston pg.8)
By the time World War II began in September 3, 1939, there were many aircraft in
circulation, however the U.S. had not been able to get sufficient photos of Germany for a
variety of reasons. Sidney Cotton, who was an expert pilot and photographer, was
contracted by the British to daringly fly his civilian Lockheed airplane over German
hostile territory and come back with photos of the German fleet. He had accomplished his
mission in less than a month after the War had started. Sidney Cotton went on to set up
the Photographic Development Unit in Heston. The Unit became know as the Photographic
Reconnaissance Unit, which was famous for developing millions of films and made great
technological advances in the art of aerial reconnaissance. During the time of World War
II aerial reconnaissance and intelligence gathering really came into its own. Advanced
warplanes were often modified as reconnaissance platforms capable of carrying a battery
of cameras at high speed and over long distances. These reconnaissance flights became a
regular part of the war, and were instrumental in the planning of the D-day invasion.
The Cold War, which began at the end of World War II and last until the dismantleing of
the Soviet Union in 1991 called for extreme advancement in all aspects of aircraft and
aerial reconnaissance. It was this sensitive period that inspired the United States CIA
(Central Intelligence Agency) to fund the production of the famous U-2. The U-2, also
known as "Dragon Lady", was the first aircraft built specifically for clandestine
reconnaissance flights. Lockheed developed the U-2 in 1954 for the USAF/CIA to fly over
foreign territory without permission in order to take photographs of military or
strategically interesting installations. The U-2 was a glider-like airplane that was
extremely light and could fly at very high altitudes (70,000 to 90,000ft). It was hoped
that the plane could fly high enough that the Russians could not detect it. As it turned
out, they could see it, but it flew high enough that the Russians couldn't shoot it down.
The U-2 was entirely gray without markings, which provoked public interest and government
officials released that it was some kind of NASA experimental "Utility" aircraft. After
several successful flights and providing the U.S. with valuable information during the
Cold War, the U-2 was shot down. But the factual information suggests that Russia sent up
an aircraft to shoot it down, while simultaneously shooting at the U-2 from the ground.
Consequently, instead of the U-2, Russia shot their own airplane and the shock wave from
that explosion snapped the U-2's fragile wing. After four years, the U-2's secret
missions had come to an end. By the 1960's such aircraft were obsolete because of the
development of SAM's (surface to air missiles) which could reach far higher than
airplanes at that era could fly. A next generation airplane that could fly just as high,
and 5 times faster than the U-2 was already in the works.
Even while the U-2 was in service, the CIA knew that at its slow airspeeds (494mph), it
would soon become vulnerable to anti-aircraft weaponry. This compelled the CIA to begin
development of the A-12. In 1959 a contract was given to Lockheed to begin production.
The first flight of the A-12 took place on April 26, 1962. Lockheed went on to build
several more (15 to 18 total) for the CIA. Although there is no evidence to suggest that
the CIA ever flew the A-12 operationally, most would speculate that it was. The
mission-hindering problem of the A-12 was that the systems carried where so complex that
the pilot's workload was almost impossible. This was a large factor in development for
the SR-71. The A-12 is probably most famous for setting the groundwork for its
replacement the SR-71, also know as "Blackbird". The only significant difference is that
the A-12 was a single seat aircraft, with reconnaissance equipment where the RSO
(Reconnaissance System Officer) is now located on the SR-71. The contract for the first
six SR-71's was issued in December in 1962. The first SR-71 flew two years later in
December of 1964 and was followed by the production of 28 more "Blackbirds". The SR-71
was without a doubt the single most technologically significant aircraft since the end of
World War II. The SR-71 Black bird went on to set nine new records in speed and altitude.
Colonel Robert L. Stephens along with RSO Lt. Col. Daniel Andre set a new absolute world
speed record of 2,193-mph (Mach 3.17; 30 miles a minute) and a new absolute sustained
altitude of 85,069 feet. The "Blackbird" was operational for nearly three decades, and
was unmatched as a strategic reconnaissance airplane. Due to politics, the SR-71 was
retired in 1990. However, the USAF still kept a few SR-71s in operation and in 1995 two
were brought back into service. Now only NASA's DFRC at Edwards AFB, CA flies the SR-71.

Although the United States Government denies having a replacement reconnaissance
aircraft, it is hard to believe that in today's technological world that we would not
have an advanced spy aircraft. In the early hours of the morning on January 30, 1992 a
loud boom of the coast awakened people all over southern California. Us Geologist looked
at assumed it had been another tremor, which is quite a common occurrence on the West
Coast. However, a few hours later they decided an unidentified flying object traveling at
Mach 3.1 had caused the disturbance. Also determining that it was also heading straight
for the U.S. Airforces top secret base at Groom Lake Nevada. Even after official denials,
evidence indicates that the United States is operating a very fast secret spy aircraft It
seems that this aircraft has been titled "Aurora", after it showed up by mistake in an
1985 Pentagon budget document. Eyewitnesses have seen unusual triangle-shaped aircraft
over the Western United States and the United Kingdom's North Sea. People have also spoke
of hearing a low frequency rumble followed by a very loud roar, which experts say could
be the highly advanced engines used by a Mach 6 (4,000 miles per hour) aircraft.
Many people, including myself feel that Spy Aircraft will become obsolete in the near
future. The question that most people have asked is, Why would we need a Spy Aircraft,
when a complex network of orbiting satellites is capable of aerial reconnaissance? It's a
strong case indeed, as compared to the analogy earlier in my paper, when placing a
satellite in orbit 100 miles above the earth, its horizon is an amazing 900 miles. This
is quite an impressive figure, when compared to the number of satellites that are already
in orbit. It is amazing to think, that in a little over a century we have come from using
huge box camera to satellite imagery. It is mind boggling to think we we'll be by the end
of the 21st century.