2 days ago
US Intelligence Flight Detected on China's Doorstep
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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A United States military aircraft designed to gather radar signals was detected flying deep in the contested South China Sea on Tuesday, publicly available flight data showed.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry and U.S. Pacific Air Forces via email for comment outside of office hours.
Why It Matters
The Pentagon typically does not disclose specifics about its military operations, but a U.S. Air Force fact sheet says the Combat Sent collects "strategic electronic reconnaissance information" for decision makers in the U.S. military chain of command.
"Locating and identifying foreign military land, naval and airborne radar signals, the Combat Sent collects and minutely examines each system, providing strategic analysis for warfighters," the Air Force said, in a description of the platform's role in developing effective anti-radar countermeasures such as jamming.
What To Know
The RC-135U, also known as the Combat Sent, probed the waters around the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands in a 10-hour flight from a major military hub in southwestern Japan, according to self-reported geodata recorded by the website Flightradar24.
The August 6 flight was first spotted by open-source intelligence analyst MeNMyRC1, a former RC-135 crew member and signals intelligence platform specialist. They said it was unusual for U.S. spy flights to be seen so far south in the South China Sea, while noting that the area often lacks enough ground receivers to pick up aircraft tracks.
The Combat Sent, which was deployed in late June from the continental United States to Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, flew its latest sortie just after 6 a.m. universal coordinated time, or UTC, according to Flightradar24. It did not land until after 4 p.m. UTC the same day.
An RC-135 V/W RIVET JOINT takes off from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on March 31, 2025.
An RC-135 V/W RIVET JOINT takes off from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska on March 31, 2025.
Chad Watkins/U.S. Air Force
Flight records showed the Combat Sent has been deployed on suspected electronic intelligence-gathering flights at least 11 times since July 1, probing contested areas including just south of the North Korean border as well as near China's southernmost province of Hainan, home to one of the Chinese navy's aircraft carriers stationed in the South China Sea.
The Air Force says the Combat Sent aircrew includes "a minimum of 10 electronic warfare officers…and six or more mission area specialists." The plane has a fuel range of over 4,500 miles and an operational ceiling higher than 35,000 feet.
The U.S. military has two Combat Sent platforms in operation. They first flew in the mid-1960s and are expected to remain in service until the 2040s.
Beijing-based think tank the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative wrote on X that it had tracked 48 sorties by U.S. spy planes over the South China Sea in July alone, four of which were RC-135s.
China claims sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago off the west coast of the Philippines and has controlled the Paracel group east of Vietnam since the mid-1970s. In both sets of disputed islands, China has artificially expanded shoals and reclaimed reefs to create large military bases housing radars, barracks and airfields.
What People Are Saying
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on February 9: "US aircraft and warships frequently conduct close-in reconnaissance around China, which seriously threatens China's national security and undermines regional peace and stability.
What Happens Next
Both the U.S. and Chinese militaries are expected to continue deploying surveillance planes in the western Pacific.
