Originally Posted by
Finningley Boy
A quick question for those in the know,
Tactical, Fighter and Photographic Reconnaissance, how do they relate to one another? I was never sure if Tactical and Fighter/Armed recce were one and the same, or divided on whether the aircraft is armed or not? Photo recce, I've always thought referred more specifically to the high altitude stuff carried out by the Canberra PR7/9s for example.
FB
PS Here's an acronym relating to reconnaissance, SRPR.
In RAF terms, you are mixing apples and pears to a certain extent. Fighter Recce and Photographic Recce usually applied to designation of the platform - FR (and later GR types, such as the Harrier) were (or could be) armed,
PR types were usually unarmed.
Tactical and strategic really apply to the task and product - e.g. a Canberra PR9 could provide tactical intelligenece for the fieid commander, or strategic intelligence for the Command depending on the mission role