done by wire while this system is primary designed for the battlefield scene it could have other uses where the view of a scene is obstructed as sometime occurs during natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes it could also be used to assess battlefield damage the reconnaissance equipment of this invention can be used to conduct aerial reconnaissance surveillance of a ground surface under conditions of poor visibility such as at night time this can be accomplished by first launching an illumination shell on a trajectory course over the surface to be viewed a reconnaissance shell containing the reconnaissance equipment is then launched over the surface area to be viewed so that it arrive and can take pictures during the period of illumination provided by the illumination shell both the illumination shell and the reconnaissance shell can be launched from the same mortar or from different mortars the reconnaissance section 16 can carry a variety of other sensors either in addition to or in lieu of the camera 20 for example the reconnaissance section may carry a chemical sensor to detect the presence of poison gas on the battlefield this information can be conveyed from the sensor to the processor in the reconnaissance section for transmission back to the computer and radio receiver 34 this data could also be displayed on the viewing screen 36 or simply transmitted as a radio signal which the soldier 32 could hear a sensor could be installed in the reconnaissance section 16.