What a modern medium-altitude reconnaissance aircraft would need

A closing counterfactual asks whether the Vigilante might have been developed into an interceptor instead of transferring reconnaissance to the F-14's TARPS pod, while judging the Tomcat probably better suited to air defense. The discussion then turns to the capabilities required in a modern medium-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The mission profile uses low-level flight for the approach, a climb to widen the sensors' field of view, and a rapid descent and exit after collecting the information. Any modern replacement would have to balance survivability, sensor coverage, speed, and specialization against the carrier-air-wing constraints that retired the RA-5C.