Photos Reveal US Air Force Spying Capabilities
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Recently released photos show a fleet of specialized United States military aircraft staged on a flight line, highlighting their capabilities for a wide range of intelligence-gathering missions.
The 55th Wing of the U.S. Air Force, an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unit headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, told Newsweek in a statement that its aircraft and personnel conduct missions that defend the U.S. and safeguard global security.
Why It Matters
The U.S. Air Force often deploys its reconnaissance aircraft overseas to gather intelligence on America's adversaries. Forward deployment locations include Kadena Air Base in Japan, Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
American spy flights off the coasts of Russia and China have been intercepted by Russian and Chinese fighter jets. Moscow has stated it will not allow its borders to be violated, while Beijing has accused Washington of conducting "close-in reconnaissance" near its territory.
Several U.S. Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft park on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
Several U.S. Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint aircraft park on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
Chad Watkins/U.S Air Force
What To Know
A set of seven photos released by the 55th Wing over the weekend shows several U.S. Air Force aircraft parked on the flightline at Offutt Air Force Base at night on June 1.
These aircraft included the RC-135U Combat Sent, the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, and the WC-135 Constant Phoenix. They are developed from the C-135 Stratolifter transport aircraft.
The Combat Sent can locate and identify foreign military radar signals, while the Rivet Joint detects, identifies, and geolocates electromagnetic signals. The Constant Phoenix conducts air-sampling missions, collecting particulates in the air for detecting nuclear explosions.
A U.S. Air Force RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft, right, parks on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
A U.S. Air Force RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft, right, parks on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
Chad Watkins/U.S. Air Force
In the statement, the 55th Wing stated that the unit has global reach and enduring strategic impact by maintaining forward-deployed units around the globe, ensuring what it described as "rapid and persistent global ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] coverage."
In addition to the aforementioned specialized aircraft, the Nebraska-based unit operates the so-called "rapidly deployable" RC-135S Cobra Ball, which is designed for collecting data on ballistic missiles, a vital information that cannot be obtained by "any other source."
What People Are Saying
The 55th Wing of the U.S. Air Force, in a statement to 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."
Offutt Air Force Base, on its website: "[The 55th Wing's] mission is to provide dominant information warfare forces through electromagnetic spectrum operations, information operations, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and nuclear command, control and communications to the Joint Forces and national leadership, any time, any place."
Two U.S. Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, left and center, and an RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft park on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
Two U.S. Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, left and center, and an RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft park on the flight line at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on June 1, 2025.
Chad Watkins/U.S. Air Force
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how the U.S. military maintains its worldwide airborne spying missions amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula, across the Taiwan Strait, and in the Middle East.
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Newsweek
36 minutes ago
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Muslim worshippers walk around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on June 13, 2024, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Muslim worshippers walk around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on June 13, 2024, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. FADEL SENNA/AFP/GETTY Out of the religions surveyed, only Buddhism saw its number of global adherents fall in absolute terms, by 19 million, to 324 million people. Pew analyzed data from more than 2,700 sources spanning national censuses, demographic surveys and population registers. The study covered 201 countries or territories, accounting for nearly the entire world population. Separately, data from Pew's Religious Landscape Study found the number of religiously unaffiliated increased from 2007, or in some cases 2014, and 2023-24 in every U.S. state except South Dakota. 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National Geographic
2 hours ago
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Good to know: The Rosie the Riveter Visitor Education Center, located within the historic Ford Assembly Plant complex at 1414 Harbour Way South, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (These monuments honor LGBTQ history around the world.) Fire Island National Seashore, Ocean Beach, New York Fire Island has been a popular LGBTQ+ travel destination since the 1930s. It's also home to the historic Fire Island Lighthouse built in 1858 and it features a keeper's house, scenic views, and walking/biking paths such as Fire Island Lighthouse Trail, a six-point-five mile out-and-back trail near Bay Shore. Photograph by John Geldermann, Alamy Stock Photo New Yorkers have been drawn for decades to Fire Island, the beachy 30-mile-long barrier island tucked just beneath Long Island. Twenty-six miles of it are now protected as Fire Island National Seashore, easily accessible by a half-hour ferry ride from the mainland. 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Yahoo
2 hours ago
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President Jackson's legacy can be found throughout Middle Tennessee
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