[외안구단] US reconnaissance planes appearing over the Korean peninsula…what are they?

*JTBC online article [외안구단]Reporters covering the fields of diplomacy and security show their full coverage and point out’the pulse of the news’.

Major US reconnaissance planes launched over the Korean Peninsula over the weekend (19th-21st). They ranged from’missile detection reconnaissance aircraft’ to’mobile missile launcher detectors’.

According to the aircraft tracking site’Radar Box’, a US Navy’s signal intelligence reconnaissance aircraft’Aris’ (EP-3E) flew to Incheon on the west coast in the afternoon of yesterday (21st) to perform a flight mission. Aris’ main mission is to capture the electronic signals that emanate before and after the missile launch and intercept the enemy’s communication activities. Military sources said, “It is observed as a flight to look into the movement of the North Korean missile base.” According to the radar box record, Aris flew a round trip from Baek-A-do, the west sea to the interior of Gangwon-do.

On the 20th, the US Air Force’s ground operation controller’Joint Stars’ (E-8C) appeared in the metropolitan area and the west sea near Chungcheong-do, and on the 19th, a US Air Force’Rivet Joint’ (RC-135W) reconnaissance aircraft was launched on Sunday. It was spotted taking off the US military base and carrying out an operation in the Seoul metropolitan area and the west sea near Incheon. ‘Joint Stars’ has the ability to detect moving targets outside a distance of 250 km, so it can detect a mobile missile launch pad, and’Rivet Joint’ is equipped with equipment that captures the originating signal for missile launch and tracks the trajectory after launch. .
The launch of these reconnaissance planes over the Korean peninsula seems to be a move to understand the trends in North Korea’s new missiles and submarines.

Previously, North Korea showed off its nuclear armament by revealing its strategic and tactical weapons, including a new suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), at a late-night fever ceremony commemorating the 8th Labor Party Congress last month. Accordingly, the USFK is also deploying’Joint Stars’ over the Korean Peninsula from time to time to track North Korean mobile launchers (TEL) vehicles. On the 9th of last month, the day after the opening of the convention, he flew over the area of ​​Chungcheongnam-do and the metropolitan area and performed a surveillance mission against North Korea.

However, it is the first time since the inauguration of the Biden government that US reconnaissance planes have flew over the Korean Peninsula for three consecutive days, like last weekend. The 20th was also the first month of US President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The Biden administration, which has been inaugurated a month, seems to be keeping an eye on the possibility of North Korea’s first provocation since taking office.

North Korea’s military provocation, which had been raised on the occasion of North Korea’s Gungun Day on the 8th and Gwangmyeongseongjeol on the 16th (the birthday of the National Defense Commissioner Kim Jong-il), has quietly passed. However, the United States seems to have continuously launched reconnaissance planes in preparation for possible North Korean provocations. The sorties of US reconnaissance assets over the Korean peninsula are expected to continue until the beginning of next month. This is because ROK-US joint training is scheduled for early next month. If the ROK-U.S. coalition training, which North Korea is sensitive to, has the potential to take its own military measures, tensions cannot be relaxed.