page_title: Aerial reconnaissance in World War II
section_title: German reconnaissance capabilities
hierarchical_section_title: Aerial reconnaissance in World War II / German reconnaissance capabilities
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. This description has been identified as biased or incorrect: it is propoganda of Nazi GermanyEine epochemachende Neukonstruktion. BV 141 - das erste unsymmetrische Flugzeug der Welt! Weitere Stärkung der Schlagkraft unserer Luftwaffe. Die Flugzeugwerke der weltbekannten Schiffswerft Blohm &amp; Voss haben für die deutsche Luftwaffe mit der BV 141 ein in Aufbau und Formgebung vollkommen neuartiges Flugzeugmuster entwickelt, das bei seinen ersten Einsätzen im Ostfeldzug überragende Erfolge verbuchen konnte. Dieses erste "unsymmetrische" Flugzeug der Welt ist eine Schöpfung des Chefkonstrukteurs der Flugzeugwerke Blohm &amp; Voss, Wehrwirtschaftführer Dr. Ing. Vogt. Der Sondereinsatz, für den dieses Flugzeug vorgesehen ist, bedingte eine von den bisher eingeschlagenen Wegen der Flugtechnik grundlegend abweichende Konstruktion. Diese kann in ihrer nach jahrelanger Forschungsarbeit nunmehr erreichten Lösung als epochemachend angesehen werden. Erstmalig findet sich hier die vollkommen unsymmetrische Bauart, die auf dem linken Flügel den Leitwerkträger mit Motor und auf dem rechten Flügel den getrennt hiervon als geschlossene Vollsichtkanzel ausgeführten Raum für die dreiköpfige Besatzung trägt. Die auf Grund der taktischen Forderungen notwendige Sonderheit der Konstruktion hat gleichzeitig einen überaus günstigen Einfluß auf die Flugeigenschaften und Leistungen des Flugzeuges ergeben: hohe Geschwindigkeit, besondere Wendikeit und Steigleistung. Die Bewaffnung der BV 141 besteht aus Kanonen und Maschinengewehren modernster Konstruktion. Als Motor finde der neue BMW-Doppelsternmotor BMW 801 Verwendung. Bereits seit geraumer Zeit läuft die BV 141 im Grosserienbau in den in Ostdeutschland gelegenen Flugzeugwerken der Firma Blohm &amp; Voss. Der damit garantierte, in immer gesteigerterem Umfang möglich werdende Einsatz dieses Flugzeuges bedeutet eine wesentliche Stärkung der Schlagkraft unserer Luftwaffen. Information added by Wikimedia users.Translation: BV 141 reconnaissance aircraft. An epoch-making new construction.The BV 141 - the first asymmetrical aircraft in the world! Further strengthening the power of our Luftwaffe. The aircraft factory of the world-renown shipbuilder Blohm &amp; Voss has, with the BV 141 for the German Luftwaffe, developed a completely new aircraft model in design and configuration, that was able to record outstanding success in its initial operations in the Eastern campaign. This first asymmetrical aircraft in the world is the brainchild (lit. "creation") of the chief designer of the Blohm &amp; Voss aircraft factory, Wehrwirtschaftführer ("Military Economy Leader") Doctor of Engineering [Richard] Vogt. The special mission that this aircraft is intended for, required a technological design- and manufacturing approach fundamentally different to those that have been previously used. The solution achieved after years of research work can be regarded as epoch-making. For the first time a completely unbalanced design has been adopted; a tail boom with engine attached is mounted on the left wing; and on the right wing is an enclosed cockpit with unimpeded visibility in all directions for the three-man crew. At the same time, due to the operational (lit. "tactical") requirements, the special design required excellent flight characteristics and performance of the aircraft: high speed, exceptional manoeuverability and [good] climb performance. The armament of the BV 141 consists of the most modern cannons and machine guns. The engine used is the new BMW 801 radial. The BV 141 has been in volume-production in the east German aircraft factory of the Blohm &amp; Voss company for some time now. Thus assured of availability, the increasingly possible use of this aircraft means a substantial strengthening of the effectiveness of our air forces.
context_page_description: A transformational growth in air reconnaissance occurred in the years 1939–45, especially in Britain and then in the United States. It was an expansion determined mostly by trial and error, represented mostly by new tactics, new procedures, and new technology, though rarely by specialized aircraft types. The mission type branched out into many sub-types, including new electronic forms of reconnaissance. In sharp contrast with the case during the pre-war years, by 1945 air reconnaissance was widely recognized as a vital, indispensable component of air power.
context_section_description: Despite a considerable technological and numerical head start, Germany gradually neglected aerial reconnaissance, at least relative to Britain. The reason, grounded in history and geography, was that Germany had no strategic bombing doctrine and viewed air power as an auxiliary of land armies. Numerous Aufklärungs (up-clearing, i.e. reconnaissance) units were established for marine and ground support purposes, but while this was effective in the tactical sense, the intellectual investment in interpretation, analysis, and strategic estimation lagged. From the German perspective, this was defensible considering that about 90% of the action lay in large land-battles in the East, and an expensive long-range air capability would have been unlikely to effectively change the outcome.
  Leading up to the war, the United States developed an indigenous high-quality optics capability led by Bausch & Lomb of Rochester, N.Y.; however this company had been allied to Germany's Zeiss-Jena. Nonetheless, the American reconnaissance expert, then-captain George William Goddard, said that he much coveted German technical leadership, specifically as represented by Carl Zeiss Jena optical works, and he was pleased to briefly occupy that facility at the end of the war. But the German Air Force, expecting a quick victory, did not build an integrated reconnaissance and interpretation capability as a core national security asset like the Anglo Allies did.
  Before 22 June 1941, German reconnaissance was far predominant in frequency with many daily sorties throughout the region. Leading up to the invasion of France, concentration was on ports, forts, railways and airports, using mostly Do 17Ps and He 111Hs, already vulnerable types, and rapid conversion to Ju 88D, later Ju 88H followed. Losses were on the order of 5–10%. A regular daily weather reconnaissance was kept up over the North Sea. Maritime reconnaissance from France and Norway reached well west of Ireland to the coast of Greenland using Focke Wulf Fw 200 and various multi-engine seaplanes.
  Germany used the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin airship for sigint sorties targeting RAF radar stations in 1939.
  German units were divided into Fernaufklärer (long-distance), Nahaufklärer (tactical, subordinate to Army command), Nachtaufklärer (night photography), and maritime and special units. Command structure and unit designations changed incessantly. Each staffel (squadron, roughly) had a Bildgruppe of interpreters, who would telephone urgent intelligence to nearby headquarters. Film and analyses would go to Fliegerkorps (higher-level) staff later; eventually top-level staff at Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) headquarters at Zossen near Berlin would receive the products for filing and possibly strategic integration.
  Germany emphasized tactical reconnaissance and invested considerably in both modified aircraft – primarily Ju 88s and Ju 188s – and in dedicated types such as the asymmetric Blohm & Voss BV 141 (20 built) and the twin-boom Fw 189 Uhu (nearly 900 produced). This Nahaufklärung was primarily successful on the Eastern Front where immediate results were desired, and these units were directly under Army field command. For special demanding tasks a high-altitude photographic reconnaissance aircraft, the pressurized Ju 86P was available in very small numbers, but it could not survive after 1943. Also pressurized, the Ju 388L could reach 45,000 feet and much higher airspeeds than the Ju 86P but only 50 examples were built late in the war and few saw operational service. Fighters, often with dual oblique cameras in the rear fuselage, were pressed into service for reconnaissance where their speed was necessary, and performed well in this role. Overall, however German reconnaissance against well-defended England was relatively ineffective.
  Prior to Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the USSR, the German Air Force did carry out an extensive pre-strike aerial observation of European Russia. This was possible partly because Soviet air opposition was weak, and because of the Soviet leadership's conviction t
caption: Blohm & Voss BV 141
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