reconnaissance

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is now fully naturalized and is pronounced ri-kon-i-sǝns.

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noun

The act or an instance of exploring or investigating: exploration, investigation, probe. See investigate.

[riܒkänǝzǝns; -sǝns]

riˈkänǝzǝns; -sǝns n. military observation of a region to locate an enemy or ascertain strategic features: an excellent aircraft for low-level reconnaissance.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Reconnaissance is a term for efforts to gain information about an enemy, usually conducted before, or in service to, a larger operation. The French word entered the English language in 1810—not coincidentally, at a time when British and other armies were at war with Napoleon's French forces. Reconnaissance is an important component of military and intelligence activities, as well as civilian undertakings designed to protect the public safety from hazards both natural and manmade.

In the military or espionage environment, reconnaissance can take the form of activities by scouts or other specialists. The use of what would now be called "human intelligence" in a reconnaissance capacity dates back to ancient times, when, according to the Christian Old Testament, 12 spies went into the land of Canaan to scout out the territory. Today, reconnaissance is the work of special units practicing a specialized craft.

Reconnaissance aircraft range from the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird to the E-2C Hawkeye and P-3 Orion. Additionally, the skies bristle with reconnaissance satellites operated by the U.S. military, the National Security Agency, and military or intelligence services of other nations. Even some seagoing craft, most notably submarines, can serve a reconnaissance function.

The major reconnaissance components of the U.S. intelligence community are the National Reconnaissance Organization and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. In the civilian realm are meteorological services such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which makes extensive use of reconnaissance technology to map and forecast weather patterns. Additionally, the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and other organizations conduct reconnaissance for radiological hazards and other forms of danger.

Further Reading

Books

Burrows, William E. By Any Means Necessary: America's Secret Air War in the Cold War. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.

Day, Dwayne A., and John M. Logsdon. Eye in the Sky: The Story of the Corona Spy Satellites. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.

Gann, Ernest. The Black Watch: The Men Who Fly America's Secret Spy Planes. New York: Random House, 1989.

Osborn, Shane, and Malcolm McConnell. Born to Fly: The Untold Story of the Downed American Reconnaissance Plane. New York: Broadway Books, 2001.

Electronic

National Imagery and Mapping Agency. <http://www.nima.mil/> (April 1, 2003).

National Reconnaissance Office. <http://www.nro.gov/> (April 1, 2003).

(DOD, NATO) A mission undertaken to obtain, by visual observation or other detection methods, information about the activities and resources of an enemy or potential enemy, or to secure data concerning the meteorological, hydrographic, or geographic characteristics of a particular area. Also called RECON.

IN BRIEF: A survey to gain information; an exploratory military survey of enemy territory.

The pilot flew reconnaissance missions for the army.

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A general examination or survey of the main features, or certain specific features, of a region usually as a preliminary to a more detailed survey. The various types of reconnaissance include photo reconnaissance, radar reconnaissance, and visual reconnaissance.

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For a list of words related to reconnaissance, see:

• Types and Techniques of Warfare - reconnaissance: movement to gather information about enemy
• Espionage and Intelligence - reconnaissance: covert intelligence gathering, esp. regarding enemy military capabilities
• Secrecy and Concealment - reconnaissance: covert information-gathering, esp. preliminary observation of enemy territory

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See words rhyming with "reconnaissance."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Reconnaissance.

Common misspelling(s) of reconnaissance

• reconnaissence
• reconaissance

Dansk (Danish)
n. - rekognoscering, opklaring, sondering

Nederlands (Dutch)
verkenning(stroep)

Français (French)
n. - reconnaissance

Deutsch (German)
n. - Erkundung, (Mil.) Aufklärung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (στρατ., μτφ.) αναγνώριση (εδάφους)

Italiano (Italian)
ricognizione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - reconhecimento (m), exame (m)

Русский (Russian)
разведка

Español (Spanish)
n. - reconocimiento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rekognoscering, sondering

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
侦察, 事先考察, 勘察

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 偵察, 事先考察, 勘察

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 정찰대, 정찰, 답사

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 踏査, 調査, 偵察

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) إستطلاع, إستكشاف, ريادة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סיור, סקר‬

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