The US deployed tracking aircraft at an air base in the western Pacific Ocean targeting Taiwan
US: Amid allegations of a potential Chinese war scenario targeting Taiwan, the United States made the unusual move of deploying two missile-tracking aircraft to an air base in the Western Pacific Ocean.
A U.S. Air Force RC-135S reconnaissance aircraft, which can gather optical and electronic data on ballistic missiles, landed at Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Thursday, according to data obtained by the airplane monitoring website Flightradar24.
This is the second missile-tracking aircraft, also known as Cobra Ball, based in Kadena, according to @MeNMyRC1, an open-source intelligence analyst who watches American spy planes and is active on X (formerly Twitter). On November 25, the first aircraft left the base for the last time.
The Cobra Ball’s reinforcement coincided with ongoing hostilities between China and Taiwan, an independent island that Beijing considers to be a part of its territory even though it has never had political authority over it. Kadena is the nearest U.S. air base to Taiwan, at a distance of 370 miles.
Reuters said Tuesday that information indicated the likelihood of China conducting maneuvers near Taiwan this weekend was “high.” During a war exercise in August 2022, the Chinese military launched ballistic missiles into the seas close to the island in order to carry out pinpoint attacks.
In addition, China conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test since the 1980s in late September. The fake warhead of the nuclear-capable missile splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean after it was launched from the Hainan region in southern China.
The expert told media reports, “It would be unusual but not particularly so if both [aircraft] remain at Kadena.” Two Cobra Balls were held on Kadena in February, March, May, June, and July of 2023. During that period, they were temporarily relocated to Alaska.
The U.S. Air Force reports that the 55th Wing, which is permanently stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, is operating three RC-135S aircraft now in active duty.
The serial number of the second Cobra Ball that was sent to Kadena is 62-4128. According to Flightradar24’s data, aircraft arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on Tuesday after departing Offutt and stopping in Hawaii. The next day, the plane took off for Okinawa.
61-2662, the first Kadena-based Cobra Ball, was retasked to the Western Pacific Ocean for deployment at Kadena after being tracked stationing in Alaska in mid-September.
According to tracking data, the 61-2662 aircraft flew over the Philippine Sea and the Sea of Japan, commonly known as the East Sea in South Korea, in October and November to perform surveillance operations ahead of Chinese and North Korean missile launches.
The development of America’s strategic defense and theater missile defense concepts depends on the data gathered by the Cobra Ball, which can be quickly deployed and provide essential information that cannot be gathered from other sources, according to the U.S. Air Force.
The third Cobra Ball, 61-2663, was still in Greenville, Texas, at a military contractor L3Harris facility for “programmed depot maintenance,” as @MeNMyRC1 informed media reports. In late September, the aircraft was seen en route to the site.
According to a February 2022 statement from the firm, L3Harris has consistently maintained and adjusted the Cobra Ball fleet to meet the evolving mission and global navigation needs.
