ABSTRACT
The Soviets use a single generic term - razvedka - to describe all actions necessary to achieve a better understanding of their enemy, while the English language applies the distinctive terms "intelligence" and "reconnaissance" to information collection and analysis at various levels. The Soviet and U.S. approaches differ more than just semantically. The Soviets view razvedka as a single entity encompassing mundane actions at the lowest combat level as well as highly sophisticated procedures used at the national level to collect and process information on enemies or potential enemies. The term razvedka means both intelligence and reconnaissance and, with an appropriate adjectival qualifier, it pertains to every possible means of intelligence collection and analysis.
