The redesignated and reactivated 72nd Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Long Range, Photographic) began operations at Ladd Field, Alaska, in October 1947. It was an unusual unit, having as its equipment a dozen Boeing F-13A aircraft, the photo reconnaissance versions of the B-29, and half a dozen—the only half a dozen—Boeing B-29F models.

Boeing lists the B-29F as a standard model that was winterised for Arctic tests. The tests were of long-range reconnaissance, and the B-29F was quite a different airplane from the ones that had bombed Japan. In addition to being winterised, and carrying the red-tipped wings and tail Arctic markings, the F models were some 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) lighter, and were stripped of all their defensive armament systems and bomb racks. They had additional fuel capacity, and their engines had been hand-picked by conscientious crew chiefs. They could stay in the air for 33 hours, and spent a lot of that time at altitudes around 40,000 ft (12,200 m).

They were among the first to fly surveillance missions near, perhaps over, the territory of the Soviet Union, and there was nothing the Russians could do about it. Their interceptors were helpless at altitude, and the Russian pilots then couldn't handle the weather problems that have plagued Arctic flying since its inception.

As electronic equipment became more capable and more discriminating, it offered an attractive complementary input to photographic reconnaissance. On days when the enemy could not be photographed because of the weather, they could be 'seen' by radar, and the scope picture could be photographed. The enemy's radio message traffic could be monitored and analysed, for further input, as could his radar transmissions.

All this had been done during World War II to some degree. As time and equipment progressed, electronic means came to be used more and more for reconnaissance. The most dangerous use of all was in ferret missions.