Tactical Reconnaissance in the Cold War

Book excerpt: The little-known stories of the United States Air Force pilots who flew alone and unarmed into enemy territory in a world under threat of nuclear war. Tactical Reconnaissance in the Cold War describes how the United States Air Force tactical reconnaissance units operated from the end of World War II until the 1970s. This was an immensely active period that also included major conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. It was also a period of rapid technological development in aircraft and photographic techniques. This highly-illustrated book includes chapters on: the post-war period in Europe and the East; the Korean Conflict and the role of the 67th TRW from 1950 to 1954; the role of the highly secret RF-86 missions over Red China and the Soviet Far East in the early to mid ’50s; the RB-57A missions out of Bitburg and Yokota flying clandestinely over the Soviet Union and the RF-100A missions that were flown over the Soviet Union from Turkey, Rhine-Main and Yokota; United States Air Forces in Europe; the Cuban Missile Crisis and the role of the RF-101 Voodoos and RB-66s.