Tactical Reconnaissance in the Cold War

This book chronicles the operations of the USAF's tactical reconnaissance units from the end of WWII to the end of the 1970s. This was a very active period that included major conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. The same period also saw rapid technological developments in aircraft design and reconnaissance systems. The book is profusely illustrated and includes many personal accounts. The book occasionally blurs the line between the USAF's tactical and strategic reconnaissance, but still manages to provides a detailed overview of the former.

The historical narrative is told in seven chapters. Chapter one covers the time period from the end of WWII to the start of the Korean War. The F-6 (RF-51) Mustang was the predominant aircraft in use with the TAC recce squadrons, but the FA-26 (RB-26), FP-80(RF-80A), were coming into use and some squadrons in the Far East were still using RF-61Cs and F-15As. At the time, most of the recce missions flown in Europe were for photographic coverage of the border areas, whereas the missions over the Far East and the Canal Zone were for photo-mapping. Some of the units in the Far East also participated in radar calibration tasks with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy.

Chapter 2 records the USAF's tactical reconnaissance role in the Korean war. The RF-51 equipped units suffered heavy losses to ground fire due to their low level mission profiles and the inherent vulnerability of the RF-51's liquid cooled engine. This hastened the RF-51s replacement by RF-80As. The RF-80As proved to be less vulnerable to ground fire because their higher speed enabled them to spend less time over high risk areas during photo missions. However, the introduction of the MiG-15 into the conflict would cause the RF-80s to need their own fighter escort. North Korea's introduction of ever more sophisticated radar systems led to efforts to identify and photograph the radar sites for targeting purposes and/or jamming. The initial efforts to use the RF-80 in this role were less than 100% successful and the job was turned over to RB-26 units. The RB-26 had the advantages of being a multi-place aircraft and was much more capable at night. In an operation that eventually came to be known as “Project Ashtray, a few F-86s would be converted into photo reconnaissance aircraft. The RF-86's speed enabled them to survive in heavily defended areas and they were mainly used in deep penetration missions to get photos of Chinese and Soviet Far Eastern airfields.

Chapter three details operations involving post Korean War overflights of China, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. The primary purpose of the overflights was to provide intelligence to the USA and NATO about the Communist military machine. These operations appeared to be strategic by design, but were flown by tactical reconnaissance (TAC recce) aircraft and by pilots with tactical reconnaissance backgrounds. Initially the missions were flown by RF-86s, but later RB-57As and RF-100As would also be used. Eventually the advent of the U-2 and the RB-57D would put these missions in the hands of others, but TAC recce aircraft still flew about the same number of overflights as U-2s.

Chapter four covers the massive upgrading of the tactical reconnaissance assets in the U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE). Many of the first units sent from the continental USA to Europe were from National Guard wings and Squadrons. These units were initially equipped with RF-80As and RB-26s, but would gradually transition into RF-84Fs, RB-57s, and RB-66s. RF-101s would begin replacing the RF-84Fs in 1958. The RF-101s would in turn be replaced by RF-4s during the 1960s. By the end of the cold war, some of the USAFE TAC recce units had transitioned into electronic warfare roles.

Chapter five outlines the training and retraining of tactical reconnaissance aircrews during the cold war. All crews received their training at one of two main bases dedicated to the purpose. These were initially Langley AFB in Hampton, Virginia, and latterly, Shaw AFB, in South Carolina. The USAF TAC recce overflights during the Cuban Missile Crisis were flown by Shaw AFB based RF-101 units and the majority of the TAC recce crews that served in South-east Asia during the Vietnam war were trained at Shaw. In addition to routine missions and exercises, the stateside TAC recce units were frequently called upon to participate in airshows.

Chapter six is the shortest chapter in the book and tells the story of Pacific Air Force (PACAF) tactical reconnaissance units between the Korean and Vietnam wars. These units flew out of bases in Japan and Korea and dedicated a considerable amount of effort to monitoring the Korean DMZ. Other missions flown involved overflights of Chinese and Soviet shorelines. The progressive upgrading of the aircraft providing reconnaissance platforms in this theater followed along the same lines as the USAFE based units with the exception of the occasional use of RB-45Cs and RC-47s. The PACAF tactical reconnaissance units would figure prominently in the early years of the conflicts in South- east Asia(SEA).

Chapter seven tells the story of the USAF's tactical reconnaissance operations in SEA during the Vietnam war. Unsurprisingly, at 53 pages, it is the longest chapter in the book. The first TAC recce missions in SEA were in support of the Laotian government in it's fight against communist guerillas. These missions were flown in 1961 out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Base by Japan based TAC recce pilots on temporary duty (TDY). The aircraft used was a RT-33 that had been obtained from the Philippine Air Force, From this humble beginning, the USAF's TAC recce presence in SEA would expand exponentially. Eventually, RF-101Cs, RB-66s, RB-57s, and RF-4Cs would be utilized. Initially, the bulk of the TAC recce missions were for photographing targets in Laos including the Plain of Jars and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but bomb damage assessment (BDA), Electronic intelligence (ELINT), and even path finding missions into North Vietnam would follow. The increase of TAC recce operations would be met by an attendant increase in both the numbers and quality of the North Vietnamese defenses. By the end of the conflict USAF TAC recce units had lost 186 fixed wing aircraft in combat. The last TAC recce unit in SEA returned to the USA in 1975.

The book has two appendices:

Appendix one provides brief developmental and operational histories of the various aircraft used by USAF tactical reconnaissance units during the cold war. Four pages of color profiles are included in this appendix.

Appendix two has detailed descriptions of various photo reconnaissance missions, photos and drawings of the cameras used in the missions, and examples of photos obtained during typical photo reconnaissance missions.

Although this book is not specifically directed toward model builders, the photographs alone make it a useful reference source. It offers a very illuminating view of a subject that is usually relegated to the sidebars or footnotes of other USAF histories. The included anecdotes and personal recollections of the participants in the TAC recce mission during the cold war are fascinating and give what could have been a very dry recital of dates and places, a sense of immediacy. My only criticism is that the inclusion of the seemingly endless movements of units is kind of confusing and hard to follow. Recommended to all that have an interest in USAF operations during the cold war.

Rob Hart