Reconnaissance & Special Duties

Aircraft of the Royal Air Force classified as reconnaissance & special duties — profiled in full.

7 Aircraft Profiles
Featured Reconnaissance & Special Duties

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

Hawker Siddeley

Reconnaissance & Special Duties

The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod was the RAF’s principal long-range maritime patrol aircraft of the later Cold War and a major platform for anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance and signals intelligence.

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Entered service 1969
Retired 2010 (MR2); 2011 (R1)
Max speed 580 mph (933 km/h)
Ceiling 42,000 ft (12,800 m)
Range 5,755 miles (9,262 km)

Reconnaissance & Special Duties · 7 aircraft

Modern RAF

BAE Hawk

British Aerospace / BAE Systems
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1976–N/A
Modern RAF

Boeing E-3 Sentry

Boeing
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1991–2021
Second World War

de Havilland Mosquito

de Havilland
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1941–1963
Cold War

English Electric Canberra

English Electric
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1951–2006
Modern RAF

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 2007–N/A
Cold War

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

Hawker Siddeley
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1969–2010
Second World War

Westland Lysander

Westland Aircraft Ltd
Reconnaissance & Special Duties 1938–1946