Spy plane (Yuri's Revenge)

Background
During the Great World War III, the Soviet Union did not find a need for Spy planes, as their psychic corps granted them equal intelligence gathering ability.

Following Yuri's defection however, the Soviet Union needed a way to undertake field reconnaissance without the need for psychic powers. They eventually settled upon bringing back a fast, hard to intercept spy plane. As Russia had ceased the development of field airstrips, the Spy Plane was built and maintained away from the battlefield.

The spy plane would take off from a distant runway at high speed, fly over the designated area, and take a few snapshots. These would be transmitted to a commander's terminal, and the topography of the immediate area recon was requested for would be revealed.

In-Game
While the area revealed by the recon photos was decently sized, the Allied Spy Satellite Uplink was still superior. However, the ability of a spy plane to be serviced fairly quickly allowed it to even the odds in terms of intelligence gathering.

Though it's speed gave it a relative degree of invulnerability, massed AA still could get lucky and shoot a Spy plane down.