Surveillance aircraft A surveillance aircraft is an aircraft used for surveillance — collecting information over time . They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering , battlefield surveillance , airspace surveillance , observation ( e . g . artillery spotting ) , border patrol and fishery protection . This article concentrates on aircraft used in those roles , rather than for traffic monitoring , law enforcement and similar activities . Surveillance aircraft usually carry no armament , or only limited defensive armament . A surveillance aircraft does not necessarily require high - performance capability or stealth characteristics . It may be a modified civilian aircraft . Surveillance aircraft have also included moored balloon s ( e . g . TARS ) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ( UAVs ) . Definitions . The terms “ surveillance ” and “ reconnaissance ” have sometimes been used interchangeably , but , in the military context , a distinction can be drawn between surveillance , which monitors a changing situation in real time , and reconnaissance , which captures a static picture for analysis . Surveillance is sometimes grouped with Intelligence , Target acquisition and Reconnaissance under the title ISTAR . Observation was the term used for surveillance when the main sensor was the human eye . History . Pre World War I . In 1794 , during the Battle of Fleurus , the French Aerostatic Corps balloon " L ' Entreprenant " remained afloat for nine hours . French officers used the balloon to observe the movements of the Austrian Army , dropping notes to the ground for collection by the French Army , and also signalled messages using semaphore . World War I . One of the first aircraft used for surveillance was the Rumpler Taube during World War I , when aviators like Fred Zinn evolved entirely new methods of reconnaissance and photography . The translucent wings of the plane made it very difficult for ground based observers to detect a Taube at an altitude above 400 m . The French also called this plane " the Invisible Aircraft " , and it is sometimes also referred to as the " world ' s very first stealth plane " . German Taube aircraft were able to detect the advancing Russian army during the Battle of Tannenberg ( 1914 ) . World War II and later . During World War II , light aircraft such as the Auster were used as air observation post s . Officers from the British Royal Artillery were trained as pilots to fly AOP aircraft for artillery spotting . The air observation role was generally taken over by light observation helicopter s , such as the Hughes OH - 6 Cayuse , from the mid - 1960s . Roles . Maritime patrol . Maritime patrol aircraft are typically large , slow machines capable of flying continuously for many hours , with a wide range of sensors . Such aircraft include the Hawker - Siddeley Nimrod , the Breguet Atlantique , the Tupolev Tu - 95 , the Lockheed P - 2 Neptune and the Lockheed P - 3 Orion / CP - 140 Aurora . Law enforcement . Predator UAVs have been used by the U . S . for border patrol . Current use . Unmanned ( UAV ) surveillance aircraft have been deployed or are under development in many countries , including Israel , the UK , the United States , Canada , China , South Africa , Pakistan and India . Most air forces around the world lack dedicated surveillance planes . Several countries adapt aircraft for electronic intelligence ( ELINT ) gathering . The Beech RC - 12 Super King Air and Boeing RC - 135 Rivet Joint are examples of this activity .