Soviet Tu-142 patrols would fill gaps between satellite observations, much as Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condors had supported maritime operations during the Second World War. The available reconnaissance satellites could not provide persistent coverage. A strike commander aboard a patrol aircraft could use its communications to direct Backfires and other attackers toward the target, specifying their approach angles and ranges. A proposed Sidewinder adaptation for P-3 Orions remains a speculative way to arm aircraft shadowing these patrols. Maintaining that surveillance effort would exhaust crews already worried about their families and the possibility of nuclear war.
Notable Point · 1:28:07-1:30:09
The strain of persistent maritime surveillance
Reconnaissance aircraft can locate and direct strikes, but their crews cannot sustain uninterrupted coverage indefinitely.