US Reconnaissance Aircraft Conduct Reconnaissance Flights on New Year's Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] On the first day of 2020, January 1st, a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft also flew over South Korea and the East Sea.

According to the civilian aviation tracking site 'Aircraft Spot,' the U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft Cobra Ball (RC-135S) took off from Kadena (嘉手納) U.S. military base in Japan around 8:25 a.m. that day and conducted a flight mission over the East Sea.

The U.S. Air Force has deployed three types of the RC-135 series. They gather enemy signal intelligence as well as electronic and communication intelligence to anticipate the enemy's location, intentions, and threatening activities in advance. The three types of the RC-135 series, considered the best reconnaissance assets, are the RC-135W Rivet Joint, RC-135U Combat Sent, and RC-135S Cobra Ball.

The RC-135S is a reconnaissance aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art electro-optical equipment capable of tracking ballistic missile trajectories from a long distance. This sortie appears to have been a reconnaissance mission over North Korean submarine bases in preparation for possible submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) provocations.

The RC-135S was detected flying over the East Sea for five consecutive days from the 24th to the 28th of last month.

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, stated in the report of the 7th Central Committee's 5th Plenary Meeting of the Workers' Party, held from the 28th to the 31st of last month, that "soon, not far from now, you will witness new strategic weapons that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will possess."