Advances in aircraft have vastly speeded the work of aerial reconnaissance since World War 11. The three-man air crew of SAC's six-jet RB-47 can photograph a target and return in half the time required by the 11-man crew of the old 1113-29. Flying higher, they can photograph a swath of countryside 80 miles wide and 500 miles long every hour. The new eight-jet RB-52, which is now coming into use at SAC, will shoot pictures at even higher speeds and altitudes. Its camera-carrying pod can be slipped out and replaced with bombs.
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