The first "military profession" of the newborn aviation was aerial reconnaissance. The R-1 reconnaissance aircraft became the first mass airplane of the USSR. The first combat aircraft developed under the leadership of A.N. Tupolev and A.S. Yakovlev, these are R-3 and R-12 scouts. In general, in the 1920s-1930s. increased attention was paid to the development of reconnaissance aviation in the Soviet Union, which led to the creation of such aircraft masterpieces as the legendary R-5 or the experimental stratospheric BOK-11. However, later another strategy prevailed - they abandoned the production of specialized reconnaissance aircraft, relying on serial fighters and bombers equipped with photographic equipment.Did such an approach justify itself? Why was it not possible to adopt anything equivalent to the famous Rama Fw.189 or the German high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft Hs.130 and Ju.86R, which freely flew over Moscow and Britain at the height of the war? How did the USSR respond to the appearance of American strategic reconnaissance aircraft U-2 and SR-71?In this book you will find not only answers to these questions, but also comprehensive information about all types of domestic reconnaissance aircraft - mass-produced and experimental , piston and jet, light and long-range, ship-based and land-based, electronic reconnaissance and early warning radar, as well as reconnaissance spotter helicopters and target designators.