Paper
11 December 1984 The Challenge To Tactical Reconnaissance: Timeliness Through Technology
Richard D. Stromfors
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
As you have no doubt gathered from Mr. Henkel's introduction, I have spent over 20 years of my Air Force career involved in the reconnaissance mission either as a tactical reconnaissance pilot, as a tactical reconnaissance inspector, as a writer and speaker on that subject while attending the Air Force Professional Military Education Schools, and currently as the Air Force's operational manager for reconnaissance aircraft. In all of those positions, I've been challenged many times over with what appeared, at first, to be insurmountable problems that upon closer examination weren't irresolvable after all. All of these problems pale, however, when viewed side-by-side with the one challenge that has faced me since I began my military career and, in fact, faces all of us as I talk with you today. That one challenge is the problem of timeliness. Better put: "Getting information to our customers firstest with the mostest." Together we must develop better platforms and sensors to cure this age-old "Achilles heel" in the reconnaissance cycle. Despite all of our best intentions, despite all of the emerging technologies that will be available, and despite all of the dollars that we've thrown at research and development, we in the reconnaissance business still haven't done a good job in this area. We must do better.
© (1984) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Richard D. Stromfors "The Challenge To Tactical Reconnaissance: Timeliness Through Technology", Proc. SPIE 0496, Airborne Reconnaissance VIII, (11 December 1984); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.944400
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KEYWORDS
Reconnaissance

Sensors

Airborne reconnaissance

Reconnaissance systems

Weapons

Cameras

Infrared sensors

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