Why is the reconnaissance plane called the "scanner" on the battlefield?

Before 1950s and 1960s, reconnaissance satellite technology was still in the primary stage of development, and reconnaissance plane was always the protagonist of aerial reconnaissance and surveillance. In the two world wars, aerial reconnaissance played an important role. After World War II, aerial reconnaissance and surveillance entered a new stage.

The manned "scanner" on the battlefield has been the main force of aviation reconnaissance since it was born in the late 1930s. There are many advantages of manned reconnaissance plane, which can carry visible light aerial camera, infrared aerial camera and TV camera for aerial reconnaissance. The manned reconnaissance plane has flexible response and good maneuverability, can complete battlefield reconnaissance in time and accurately, and can directly guide assault troops to destroy targets.

However, manned reconnaissance planes also have fatal shortcomings. They are generally unarmed and have no self-defense ability, and most of them perform tasks alone. Therefore, they are easily attacked by various anti-aircraft guns, and it is difficult to detect the vast area in the depth of each other. In addition, flying over other countries' airspace for reconnaissance in peacetime will also cause serious diplomatic disputes. Therefore, its reconnaissance effect is greatly limited.

Manned reconnaissance aircraft are usually divided into two categories: one is specially designed and manufactured reconnaissance aircraft, such as U-2, SU-71in the United States; The other is a high-speed reconnaissance plane modified by various planes, such as the RF-4C of the United States and the MIG -—25RE of the former Soviet Union. Since the advent of special reconnaissance aircraft in 1930s, the representative aircraft mainly include OV- 1 "Moho History" battlefield reconnaissance aircraft of the United States, TR- 1 battlefield reconnaissance aircraft, U-2, SR-7 1 strategic reconnaissance aircraft and P-3C anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft, RAM-M new high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the former Soviet Union and Yak-.

Specially designed reconnaissance planes generally have strong survivability. In order to save themselves, they must have several unique skills: some are extremely fast, and they can speed up their escape when they meet the enemy. For example, the SR-7 1 reconnaissance plane of the United States has a top speed of 3,700 kilometers per hour. At present, there is no fighter plane flying faster than it in the world. Some fly very high, for example, the MIG -—52P reconnaissance plane of the former Soviet Union has a real ceiling of 30,000 meters, which not only fighters but also surface-to-air missiles can't hit this high.

Although the specially designed reconnaissance plane has many advantages, it has complex technology, long development cycle, limited production quantity and high cost. Therefore, the number of reconnaissance planes modified by various types of aircraft is relatively large. Reconnaissance planes modified from bombers and transport planes generally have the characteristics of large installed capacity, strong reconnaissance ability, long range and long blank time, and are mainly used to carry out strategic and campaign reconnaissance tasks; Fighters and fighter-bombers have modified the most tactical reconnaissance planes. In addition, almost all foreign advanced fighters can be equipped with reconnaissance pods to perform reconnaissance missions. At present, with the development of reconnaissance-surveillance-attack integrated system, this fighter with reconnaissance pod will become more and more important.

In the mid-1950s, the U-2 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance plane specially designed and produced by the United States for reconnaissance of the development of strategic weapons in the former Soviet Union secretly went deep into China and the hinterland of the former Soviet Union for reconnaissance. This kind of plane is equipped with four cameras, which can shoot tens of kilometers of ground on both sides of the fuselage. The electronic reconnaissance equipment it carries can detect ground radar and warships within 600 kilometers, and can also detect radio calls between land and air planes or between planes.

In the mid-1960s, in order to replace the U-2 reconnaissance plane shot down by China and the former Soviet Union, the United States specially developed the SR-7 1 high-altitude and high-speed strategic reconnaissance plane, which was called "Blackbird". The first feature of this kind of aircraft is its fast flight speed, which once set a world record of 3700 kilometers. This speed is three and a half times the speed of sound, faster than when the rifle bullet just came out of the muzzle. The second is to fly high, up to 26,000 meters. Because it flies fast and high, it is difficult to be found, so it has never been hit by a missile. This kind of aircraft is equipped with visible light camera, synthetic aperture radar and infrared remote sensor. Using a camera, it can shoot an area of 6.5438+0.5 million square kilometers per hour.

Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has more advantages than manned reconnaissance aircraft: first, the cost is low, an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft needs about 500 ~ 1 10,000 dollars, while an SR-7 1 reconnaissance aircraft needs 24 million dollars; Second, it has high reliability and can complete dangerous reconnaissance tasks that are not suitable for manned reconnaissance planes; Third, it is small in size, low in engine power and low in infrared radiation, and it is not easy to be found. It can be loaded into a transport plane and airlifted to the front line for launch. This is the main reason why unmanned reconnaissance planes are paid more and more attention by the world.

Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft can carry visible light camera, TV camera, forward-looking infrared remote sensing and side-looking radar. Visible light camera can take high-altitude and low-altitude photography; Television cameras can send reconnaissance images back to the ground station in time; Side-looking radar can be used around the clock except for reconnaissance at a certain distance from the enemy. But the unmanned reconnaissance plane needs a lot of people to maintain and its operation is complicated. The communication and control lines between the ground and the aircraft and the lines for transmitting reconnaissance data from the aircraft to the ground are easily disturbed by radio waves and terrain. Therefore, it can only be supplemented by manned reconnaissance planes, and it cannot be replaced.

After the Gulf War, the US military put forward the operational theory of "air-ground integrated warfare". This theory requires that the information of the enemy's key defense points and the exact position of the main force should be obtained as soon as possible, and the air power should be used to destroy or force them out of the hidden area, and then the large forces should be mobilized to launch a multi-directional rapid annihilation war. Undoubtedly, to realize this operational guiding ideology, we must rely on advanced reconnaissance means and tools. In this regard, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has its unique advantages, especially for division and regiment combat troops, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft is an ideal reconnaissance equipment.

In addition, the experience of the Gulf War also shows that satellite reconnaissance has some defects, such as fixed orbit operation, long cycle, low repetition probability of ground reconnaissance, inability to continuously monitor and detect enemy areas concerned by commanders, and great influence by meteorological conditions in war-torn areas. Therefore, it cannot completely replace the reconnaissance plane. Therefore, after the war, the United States established the Aviation Reconnaissance Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, which was responsible for aviation reconnaissance equipment. Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has been identified as the development focus because of its many advantages, such as light weight, simple structure, low cost, safe and convenient use, and uninterrupted reconnaissance of enemy areas that it pays attention to day and night.

In the 1990s, in order to make up for the lack of aerial reconnaissance capability and prepare for the future information battlefield, the United States began to develop two kinds of high-altitude long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, the Global Hawk and the Dark Star. Rq-4 is a large unmanned aerial vehicle, which is mainly used for large-scale continuous reconnaissance and surveillance in low-intensity conflicts. The aircraft was developed in 1995 and is currently in the test flight stage. The maximum flying altitude of rq-4 is 10500m, the maximum cruising speed is 280km, the cruising time is about 42h, and the maximum range without refueling is 22526km.

"Dark Star" is a kind of stealth unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with high altitude and long endurance. Although it does not have the performance and load of "Global Hawk", it has the ability to penetrate enemy air defense systems and good survivability. The maximum flying altitude of this plane is13720m, and the cruising speed is 463km per hour. The aircraft was developed in 1994 and 1996.3. These two unmanned reconnaissance planes plan to equip troops by the end of this century, and may gradually replace manned reconnaissance planes such as U-2, SR-7 1 at the beginning of the 20th century. It can be predicted that the unmanned reconnaissance plane will become the protagonist of battlefield reconnaissance at that time, and undertake the global reconnaissance and surveillance task together with reconnaissance satellites.