Map Shows US Military Plane off Chinese Coast
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A Newsweek map shows a United States military plane—deployed in the western Pacific—flying close to China's coastline on two consecutive days, possibly for intelligence gathering.
The U.S. Pacific Air Forces did not immediately respond to a written request for comment. Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The U.S. Air Force operates a fleet of spy aircraft for different types of reconnaissance missions and deploys them to overseas locations—including Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan's southwestern island near China and Taiwan—to collect intelligence on America's rivals.
Beijing has accused the U.S. of conducting "close-in reconnaissance" of its territory, which has led to aerial encounters between the two militaries, with Chinese fighter jets intercepting American aircraft in what the Pentagon called an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner.
What To Know
Using open-source data from online service Flightradar24, Newsweek tracked two flights by a U.S. Air Force RC-135W aircraft, also known as Rivet Joint, on Monday and Tuesday.
The reconnaissance aircraft is equipped with a sensor suite for detecting, identifying, and geolocating signals throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, providing "near real-time," on-scene intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination capabilities, the Air Force said.
Both spy flights were launched from Kadena Air Base. The first flight, lasting approximately six hours, saw the aircraft flying off China's eastern coastline—from north of the Taiwan Strait to south of the Shandong Peninsula—over the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.
The following day, the aircraft performed a six-hour flight over the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea; however, it did not fly as far south toward the Taiwan Strait as the previous flight. It returned to base after flying past Shanghai during the final portion of the flight.
According to @MeNMyRC1, an open-source intelligence analyst on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, who tracks U.S. spy planes, this particular Rivet Joint aircraft, with registration number "62-4135," was deployed to Okinawa from the U.S. mainland around mid-July.
A United States RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft takes off at Kadena Air Base in Japan on May 12, 2020.
A United States RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft takes off at Kadena Air Base in Japan on May 12, 2020.
Staff Sgt. Benjamin Sutton/U.S. Air Force
All Rivet Joint aircraft are permanently based at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and operated by the 55th Wing. The unit previously told Newsweek that it has "global reach and enduring strategic impact" by maintaining forward-deployed aircraft around the world.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Air Force 55th Wing previously told Newsweek: "While we do not disclose operational status or comment on specific interactions with foreign military aircraft for operational security, the 55th Wing remains steadfast in executing its mission with precision, professionalism, and strict adherence to international standards."
The Pentagon said in its Chinese military power report 2024: "Since late 2023, the [Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA)] has reduced the number of coercive and risky air intercepts of U.S. platforms compared to the previous [two] years, when the PLA engaged in notably increased aggressive activity, particularly in the East and South China Seas."
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will enhance its surveillance of China as the country rapidly builds up its armed forces and expands its military presence in the western Pacific.
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