[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Korean Peninsula. It is unusual for reconnaissance aircraft from each branch to fly simultaneously on the same day, which is interpreted as a message to monitor signs of nuclear and missile provocations and to warn against such provocations.
According to an aircraft tracking site on the 20th, one U.S. Air Force Combat Sent (RC-135U) reconnaissance aircraft was deployed over the West Sea. It is believed to have monitored North Korean military movements in contact areas such as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea.
The Combat Sent, which flies before North Korea conducts launches of Hwasong-series intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or nuclear tests, is considered a national strategic reconnaissance aircraft. Equipped with high-performance advanced sensors, it can collect signals intelligence (SIGINT) such as missile launch signals and radio waves emitted from mobile launchers (TELs) and ground control stations hundreds of kilometers away.
Later in the afternoon, one U.S. Army reconnaissance aircraft Huron (C-12U-3) took off from the Okinawa U.S. Air Force base and conducted a flight mission over the Korean Peninsula. At the same time, one U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft Guardrail (RC-12) also entered the airspace over Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and carried out reconnaissance missions.
Meanwhile, the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) will enter Busan on the 23rd. It is the first time in five years since the Ronald Reagan made a port call in Busan for training after North Korea's 6th nuclear test in September 2017, with the visit in October 2017.
Along with the nuclear-powered submarine Annapolis (SSN-760), the Ronald Reagan is scheduled to conduct combined naval exercises with the ROK and U.S. navies in the East Sea later this month, together with the Aegis cruiser Chancellorsville (CG-62) and the Aegis destroyer Barry (DDG-52). This will be the first combined naval exercise in the Korean Theater of Operations (KTO) since November 2017, when three U.S. aircraft carriers?the Ronald Reagan, Nimitz (CVN-68), and Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)?were simultaneously deployed in the East Sea.
The Navy stated, "The two countries will conduct combined naval exercises in the East Sea to strengthen military readiness and demonstrate the firm will of the ROK-U.S. alliance for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
Kim Seung-gyeom, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said at the National Assembly Defense Committee on the same day, "If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face overwhelming responses from the ROK-U.S. alliance and our military, and we will firmly imprint that 'there is no scenario in which the North Korean regime can survive any longer.'"
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