An Illustrated Guide To Spy Planes And Electronic Warfare Aircraft

New York: Arco Publishing, Inc, 1983. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Very good. The format is approximately 4.75 inches by 8.5 inches. 160 pages. Decorative cover. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations (over 100 photographs, most in color, 50 detailed line drawings and diagrams. Superb color profiles). Over 80 aircraft and remotely guided vehicles described in this fact-packed volume. No dust jacket present. Shows reconnaissance aircraft and systems used by the world's air forces, and describes the specifications and capabilities of each aircraft. Bill Gunston OBE, FRAeS (1 March 1927 - 1 June 2013) was a British aviation and military author. He flew with Britain's Royal Air Force from 1945 to 1948, and after pilot training became a flying instructor. He spent most of his adult life doing research and writing on aircraft and aviation. He was the author of over 350 books and articles. Gunston joined the Royal Air Force in 1945 and went to University College, Durham on an RAF cadetship. In 1946 he moved to No 4 Flying Training School in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. He later moved to No 5 Flying Training School at Thornhill were he continued training and then became an instructor flying the North American Harvard. He later flew the de Havilland Vampire F3 a single-seat jet fighter. He left the RAF in 1948. Gunston attended the Northampton Engineering College until 1951 then he joined the staff of Flight International magazine, writing as "W.T.G."; he was appointed Technical Editor in April 1955. From 1969, he was part of the production team on the annual Jane's All the World's Aircraft, editing the 2015/16 edition. He was editor of Jane's Aero-Engines from 1995 to 2007. A magnificent full-color directory of the world's modern spyplanes and electronic intelligence and jamming aircraft. Details over 80 different fixed- and rotary-wing types and Remotely Piloted Vehicles. An essential guide for all aviation and/or intelligence enthusiasts. An electronic-warfare aircraft is a military aircraft equipped for electronic warfare (EW), that is, degrading the effectiveness of enemy radar and radio systems by using radar jamming and deception methods. In 1943, British Avro Lancaster aircraft were equipped with chaff in order to blind enemy air defence radars. They were supplemented by specially-equipped aircraft flown by No. 100 Group RAF, which operated modified Halifaxes, Liberators and Fortresses carrying various jammers such as Carpet, Airborne Cigar, Mandrel, Jostle, and Piperack. Capabilities and technology have continued to evolve and can be present in a variety of platforms. A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as well as measurement and signature intelligence. Modern technology has also enabled some aircraft and UAVs to carry out real-time surveillance in addition to general intelligence gathering.
Before the development of devices such as radar, military forces relied on reconnaissance aircraft for visual observation and scouting of enemy movement. An example is the PBY Catalina maritime patrol flying boat used by the Allies in World War II: a flight of U.S. Navy Catalinas spotted part of the Japanese fleet approaching Midway Island, beginning the Battle of Midway.