High altitude photo recce aircraft.
"The Ju 86P was produced in two versions, the Ju 86P-1 high-altitude bomber carrying 4 550-lb bombs or 16 110-lb bombs and the Ju 86P-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft equipped with three cameras. No defensive armament was provided, since it was assumed by the Luftwaffe that the aircraft would be completely immune to interception by enemy fighters. During 1940 and 1941, numerous bombing and reconnaissance missions were flown over Britain, the Ju 86P aircraft indeed proving to be immune from interception by RAF fighters. The Ju 86P aircraft also flew some clandestine reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union in preparation for the June 22, 1941 assault. Some Ju 86Ps were operated in the Mediterranean theater, and flew unmolested numerous times over Egypt. However, the Ju 86P eventually met its match in the form of a specially-stripped version of the Spitfire V evolved by the British to meet the high-altitude threat. The first successful interception of a Ju 86P was on August 24, 1942, when a Spitfire V caught one of these aircraft over Egypt at an altitude of 42,000 feet and forced it to crash into the Mediterranean. In response to this new threat, Luftwaffe personnel hastily fitted a remotely-controlled MG 17 machine gun fixed to fire aft from the rear fuselage. However, a couple more Ju 86P-2s were soon lost to these modified Spitfires. Since the operation of the Ju 86P over enemy territory was becoming increasingly hazardous to the health of its aircrews, the type was shortly thereafter withdrawn from operational service."
Link:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/ju86.htmlPic:
