Editing Surveillance aircraft (section)

==History==

=== Pre World War I ===
{{Main|History of military ballooning}}
[[File:Royal Flying Corps observation balloon.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Royal Flying Corps]] observation balloon on the Western Front, during [[World War I]]]]
The French were the first to adopt hydrogen-filled balloons on the battlefield for reconnaissance. In the early 1790s, the French would deploy a hydrogen-filled balloon that held two soldiers: one who possessed a telescope, and the other would relay information to troops on the ground. These balloons did not cross into enemy lines; they were deployed on friendly lines for the purpose of surveillance from a higher point of view. These balloons formed the first air force in 1794, which was referred to as the Compagnie d'Aéronautiers.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |date=2023-02-10 |title=How Nations Have Spied from the Sky |url=https://www.history.com/news/aerial-surveillance-spy-devices |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> Also in 1794, during the [[Battle of Fleurus (1794)|Battle of Fleurus]], the [[French Aerostatic Corps]] balloon ''L'Entreprenant'' remained afloat for nine hours. French officers used the balloon to observe the movements of the Austrian Army, dropping notes to the ground for collection by the French Army [2] and also signaled messages using semaphores.<ref name="coulston2">Charles Coulston Gillispie, ''Science and Polity in France: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Years'', pp. 372–373.</ref>

This method of surveillance would eventually be adopted by the Union Army in the Civil War. American inventor Thadeus Low proposed this invention to President Abraham Lincoln, to which a similar idea would be adopted. The Union Army would use balloons that could hold as many as five soldiers, and they would use telegraphs to relay information.<ref name=":22" />

In the 1880s, a British meteorologist named Douglas Archibald experimented with unmanned surveillance vehicles. Douglas rigged cameras to a kite and used a long cable attached to the kite's string to activate the shutter. This invention would eventually catch the eyes of American Army Corporal William Eddy.<ref name=":22" />

During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Eddy adopted his own version of Archibald’s kite-mounted camera. Eddy’s kite was responsible for creating the first-ever military aerial surveillance photos.<ref name=":22" />

===World War I===
One of the first aircraft used for surveillance was the [[Rumpler Taube]] during [[World War I]], when aviators like [[Fred Zinn]] evolved entirely new methods of reconnaissance and photography. The translucent wings of the plane made it very difficult for ground-based observers to detect a Taube at an altitude above 400 m. The French also called this plane "the Invisible Aircraft", and it is sometimes also referred to as the "world's very first stealth plane". German Taube aircraft were able to detect the advancing Russian army during the [[Battle of Tannenberg (1914)]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Aircraft were initially used for reconnaissance missions. The pilots of these initial aircraft would track the movement of enemy troops using photographs. These photos would be used to understand enemy formations and create maps that would eventually be used by [[infantry]]. By 1916, these aircraft would assist in the spotting of artillery, and the guidance and coordination of infantry. These aircraft forced enemy troops to camouflage their position to hide from aerial observation.<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |title=Air War - Aerial Reconnaissance |url=https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/battles-and-fighting/air-war/aerial-reconnaissance/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Canada and the First World War}}</ref>

Eventually, surveillance aircraft would be highly valued due to commander’s reliance on their information. However, surveillance aircraft would fly a low, slow, and predictable flight path, and with the introduction of [[Aerial warfare|aerial combat]], surveillance aircraft were an easy target.<ref name=":32" />

===World War II===
Pre-war, the British built and flew two Fleet Shadower aircraft, including the [[General Aircraft Fleet Shadower]], that could follow and observe the enemy fleet at a distance. However, they were made obsolete by the 1940s with the introduction of [[airborne radar]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beckhusen |first=Robert |date=2017-03-28 |title=Britain's Bizarre 'Fleet Shadower' Showed Up at the Wrong Time |url=https://medium.com/war-is-boring/britains-bizarre-fleet-shadower-showed-up-at-the-wrong-time-5c6ccdcf476f |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=War Is Boring |language=en}}</ref>

[[Air observation post]]s were developed during [[World War II]]. [[Light aircraft]] such as the [[Taylorcraft Auster|Auster]] were used by the British [[Royal Artillery]] for artillery spotting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aircraft Details |url=https://www.warplane.com/aircraft/collection/details.aspx?aircraftid=1 |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum |language=en}}</ref> By the mid-1960s, air observation was generally taken over by light [[Military helicopter|observation helicopters]].

===Cold War===
Spy flights were a source of major contention between the United States and the [[Soviet Union]] during most of the 1960s.<ref name=":3"/> Due to the difficulty of surveillance in the USSR, US policymakers established the [[National Reconnaissance Office]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=January 2014 |title=Dedication and Sacrifice: National Aerial Reconnaissance in the Cold War |website=U.S. Department of Defense (.gov) |url=https://media.defense.gov/2021/Jul/13/2002761784/-1/-1/0/DEDICATION-SACRIFICE.PDF |access-date=April 11, 2024}}</ref> To combat this difficulty of surveillance, the US military developed the [[Lockheed U-2|U2]]. This aircraft could fly at altitudes of 70,000 feet to avoid detection from [[KGB]] surveillance. The U2 was also equipped with a Hycon 73B camera. This camera was capable of capturing details as small as 2.5 feet wide. In 1962, a U2 captured images that discovered nuclear missiles in [[Cuba]]. These photos would initiate what we know as the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].

Aerial Reconnaissance was dangerous: Out of 152 cryptologists who died in the [[Cold War]], 64 of them were participating in aerial reconnaissance missions. During the time period of 1945-1977, more than forty reconnaissance aircraft were shot down in the European and Pacific areas.<ref name=":4" />

The [[United States Armed Forces|US Military]] originally used standard aircraft like [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29s]] for reconnaissance missions. Eventually, variants of the aircraft were designed for reconnaissance, e.g. the [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|C-130]] and [[Lockheed RC-130 Hercules|RC-130]]. These repurposed aircraft were sometimes referred to as “ferret” aircraft, and intelligence personnel commanding these aircraft were nicknamed “backenders”.<ref name=":4" />

The United States also performed surveillance using repurposed [[Ryan Firebee]] unmanned target drones. Variants of these vehicles, designated the [[Ryan Model 147|Model 147]], could fly for 2500 miles.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Keane, John F |first1=John F. |last2=Carr |first2=Stephen S. |date=2013 |title=A brief history of early unmanned aircraft |url=https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/Content/techdigest/pdf/V32-N03/32-03-Keane.pdf |journal=Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=558–571}}</ref>

In May 1991, the Department of the Navy reported that at least one UAV was airborne at all times during [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berenice |date=2012-11-14 |title=UAV evolution – how natural selection directed the drone revolution |url=https://www.army-technology.com/features/featureuav-evolution-natural-selection-drone-revolution/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Army Technology |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== War on terror ===
During the [[War on terror|global war on terror]], the US military developed defenses to surveillance aircraft to combat surveillance use.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-12 |title=The Drones of ISIS |url=https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/01/drones-isis/134542/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Defense One |language=en}}</ref> The United States military used precision cameras, drones that detect drones, and direct-energy weapons that disrupt control links and GPS navigation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aleksander |first=Kozera Cyprian |date=2018-10-05 |title=Military Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – A Historical Study |url=https://www.sd-magazine.eu/index.php/sd/article/view/4 |journal=Safety & Defense |language=en |volume=4 |pages=17–21 |doi=10.37105/sd.4 |issn=2450-551X|doi-access=free }}</ref>