Image Collection Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre
A black and white oblique aerial photo of a city with a coastline. The sea is at the bottom left corner. A small number of ships are on the water. The city is made up of what appears to be low-rise apartment blocks. There is a park in the centre.

Port Said in Egypt, photographed shortly after the conclusion of the Suez Crisis
Collection: JARIC, Sortie: MON/0149, Frame: 0026 (7 November 1956)

Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre

The Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC) Collection at the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) contains millions of images from the start of the Second World War to the First Gulf War. Together, they form a visual record of the Cold War throughout the second half of the twentieth century and a unique record of British Cold War interests and activities.

A black and white oblique aerial photo, with a large area of dark sea across the bottom two thirds. A pale-coloured shore is visible in the top third, with 28 shiny circular tanks arranged in a grid.
Oil storage tanks at Baniyas in Soviet-allied Syria, photographed at long range; Collection: JARIC, Sortie: ROBIN/A0001, Frame: 1027 (12 December 1956)

History

With the departure of US personnel at the end of the Second World War, the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (ACIU) at RAF Medmenham – responsible for the interpretation of photographic reconnaissance – reverted to its original title, the Central Interpretation Unit. In 1953 it became the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre.

In the immediate post-war years, one of its major tasks was the plotting and analysis of captured German Air Force reconnaissance photography. What had not been destroyed, or captured by the Soviets, was discovered in several locations by the Allies and shipped back to the UK. The joint UK/US work on this imagery provided unique intelligence on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the early Cold War years before the advent of satellite imagery.

A black and white aerial photo from high altitude, with an irregular grid of fields in light and dark colours across the left side, and the buildings of a town across the right side. A river runs from top to bottom along the very right-hand edge.
The Soviet border in Lübeck is just to the east of this photo, over the river; Collection: JARIC, Sortie: ROBIN/0002, Frame: 2057 (11 May 1954)

Previously split across four separate locations – Medmenham, Nuneham Park, Wyton and Wembley – JARIC moved to RAF Brampton, Cambridgeshire in 1956. In 1996, the unit stopped being controlled by the RAF and became an agency within MI5. As the UK's national strategic imagery intelligence provider, it became the repository for aerial imagery of locations around the world where UK forces were in operation or where the UK had an interest.

The term ‘JARIC’ stopped being used as an acronym in 2005, and the title was formally retired in 2012. The following year, JARIC was officially disbanded, and its functions and staff were transferred to the newly formed Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC) at RAF Wyton.

A black and white aerial photo of a dense forest. A clearing containing a road runs horizontally through the forest. A few buildings stand along the road. Another clearing runs from the top left corner to meet the main clearing just left of centre.
Kampung Petaseh Hulu near Kuala Lumpur, during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960); Collection: JARIC, Sortie: 81A/RAF/4742, Frame: F21_0010 (28 March 1955)

Acquisition

In 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence began to release JARIC imagery to Keele University in its capacity as an official Place of Deposit, where it joined the ACIU and German Air Force (GX) collections. At the time, government records became declassified 30 years after creation (this changed to 20 years in 2013). In 2008 the collections were transferred to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland) and became part of the new National Collection of Aerial Photography. JARIC imagery continues to be released to NCAP on a rolling programme.

A black and white aerial photo of the sea, with numerous ships on it. A strip of heavily built-up land runs along the bottom edge. A peninsula of land protrudes into the sea from the top edge, with port buildings and piers protruding to the left.
The busy port of Hong Kong was an important British colony until 1997; Collection: JARIC, Sortie: 81A/RAF/0545, Frame: 0071 (01 November 1954)

Scope

The JARIC Collection contains millions of images from around the world, dating 1938-1992 and taken by British (RAF), American (USAAF), Canadian (RCAF), Australian (RAAF), New Zealand (RNZAF) and South African (SAAF) units. The Collection covers numerous countries and territories and includes images relating to significant world events such as H-bomb and atom bomb tests, the Suez Crisis, the North Atlantic Cod Wars and Desert Storm.

Geographical coverage
Angola Hong Kong Nepal
Anguilla Iceland Oman
Antigua & Barbuda India Pakistan
Belize Iraq Palestine
Borneo Italy Persia
Brunei Jordan Republic of the Congo
Cambodia Kenya Somalia
Christmas Island Korea Sudan
Cyprus Kuwait Tanzania
Egypt Lebanon Thailand
Ethiopia Malaysia Uganda
Faroe Islands Mali Zimbabwe
Gibraltar Mauritius
Guyana Mozambique

collection contents

The Collection is made up of:

  • over 15 million aerial photographs on paper and film
  • c.14,000 16mm microfilm cassettes containing a copy of all surviving original imagery, associated sortie plots and millions of further unique images

Air Photo Finder

A small amount of this Collection has been digitised and is available to view on the Air Photo Finder. Uncatalogued imagery is only accessible with knowledge of exact sortie references (and can be ordered via our Scan on Demand service). NCAP does not hold finding aids for this Collection so searches for imagery of specific geographic locations are not yet possible.

Subscriptions

Subscribe to NCAP to view zoomable images and finding aids. 

ArchivesSpace

Visit ArchivesSpace to learn about the Collection hierarchies.

Air Photo Finder  Subscriptions  ArchivesSpace - external 

IN THIS SECTION

A black and white aerial photo of about a dozen ships pulled up on a beach. The land beyond the beach has been divided up into a grid, and the scene is slightly obscured by clouds or smoke.

Allied Central Interpretation Unit

The ACIU Collection is home to 5.5 million photographic reconnaissance images taken during the Second World War, providing a visual record of occupied Western Europe.

A colour aerial photo of the Wimbledon area in London. Streets of houses are visible at the right and left edges. A golf course with bunkers and trees occupies the middle. To the left of centre are about 20 tennis courts and a tennis stadium.

British Aerial Survey Firms

NCAP has extensive holdings of photography taken by several important British aerial survey companies over a period of 50 years.

A black and white aerial photo of a city on the edge of the sea. There are buildings and an industrial area in the centre and fields to the right. The photo has been marked with purple pencil highlighting blocks of buildings.

Defence Geographic Centre

The DGC Collection contains aerial photographs of locations around the world, originally used to create maps for issue to British and Commonwealth forces.

A black and white aerial photo of a city. The streets are arranged in a grid. There is a coastline to the right with an area of dark sea at the right-hand edge. To the left are two meandering watercourses and an area of undeveloped wetland.

Directorate of Overseas Surveys

The DOS Collection provides a unique historical perspective, recording the changing landscapes of much of the Commonwealth throughout the 20th century.

A black and white aerial photo of coastal wetlands. The image has the appearance of abstract swirls and patterns in shades of black, white and grey. There seem to be a few trees in the centre and an area of water to the left.

Environment Agency

The EA Collection is a valuable record of the quickly changing coastal landscapes of the south-east of England, from Bournemouth round to Gravesend.

A black and white aerial photomap of a town surrounded by an irregular grid of black and white fields. The photomap is annotated with place names – including Stargard, the name of the town – and is overlaid with numbered map grid squares.

German Air Force

The GX Collection contains photos taken by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, which were then used for intelligence purposes during the Cold War.

A black and white aerial photo of 17 planes at an airfield. The planes are all situated in bays off two tracks running vertically through the image – one light-coloured and one dark. The planes and tracks are surrounded by featureless fields.

Mediterranean Allied Photo Reconnaissance Wing

The MAPRW Collection contains c.150,000 aerial photographs taken during WWII by Allied units operating from North Africa and Italy.

A colour aerial photo with a park containing trees and red paths at the left, and Buckingham Palace in the bottom left corner. The River Thames is to the right with the London Eye lying flat over it. The shadow of Big Ben is to the right of centre.

Millennium Mapping

NCAP is home to the Getmapping and UK Perspectives Collections, two parallel projects to create a visual record of the UK at the turn of the millennium.

A black and white oblique aerial photo of an airborne plane from side-on. The plane has one propellor and a see-through cockpit with the pilot visible. There is a rear-facing gun turret, and the fuselage is marked with an American star and ‘312’.

National Archives and Records Administration

The NARA Collection contains worldwide imagery digitised as part of a partnership with the United States National Archives and Records Administration.

A colour aerial photo of the sea, very dark blue to the left and white from the glare of the sun on the right. In the middle a thin peninsula covered in brown grass extends into the sea. It has white cliffs and ends in a series of individual stacks.

Natural Environment Research Council

The NERC Collection contains over 27,300 aerial photographs taken around Europe for research purposes on behalf of the British Geological Survey.

A colour aerial photo of islands surrounded by a deep blue sea. There is one big island left of centre and a small one to the right. The islands have green grass and a mix of rocky and sandy shores. The sea is light blue over the sand.

Scottish Office Air Photographs Unit

The Scottish Office APU Collection provides a remarkable, 100-year record of Scotland’s changing landscapes from 1.5 million aerial photos of Scotland.