The United States has recently dispatched aircraft frequently in the South China Sea. During this period, US military reconnaissance planes also used civil aviation passenger planes as cover in the South China Sea, causing concerns.
South China Morning Post reported on August 12 that a Chinese military source revealed that the U.S. military has a number of commercial aircraft-based reconnaissance aircraft. When they approach China’s territorial airspace, they usually follow civil aviation aircraft and take them as cover.
The source and multiple observers warned that the approach reconnaissance operations carried out by the US Air Force near the coast of China posed risks to passenger aircraft flying over the South China Sea.
The United States has intensified its reconnaissance activities in the South China Sea in recent weeks. At about 21:00 on the evening of August 5, an E-8C “Joint Stars” air-to-ground surveillance aircraft of the US Air Force appeared in the South China Sea and flew in the direction of Guangdong. It flew to a position of about 109.77 kilometers from the baseline of the territorial sea off the coast of Guangdong. This is the first time that a U.S. E-8C aircraft has been spotted near the coast of mainland China at night.
According to the source, the aircraft was initially identified as a commercial airliner by the air control radar system located in southern Guangzhou. The aircraft flew over 9,000 meters above the South China Sea.
The source also stated that it was not confirmed to be a US military aircraft until the aircraft flew close to the coast of Guangdong. “In the context of escalating tensions, such an approach may cause accidents or misjudgments. Using civilian airliners as the cover is a common method of the United States and Israel, but the South China Sea is one of the busiest international airspaces in the world, such actions may put civil aircraft at risk.” He said.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, said that using a military reconnaissance aircraft platform developed on the basis of civil aviation aircraft not only saves costs but also helps carry out reconnaissance missions. U.S. aircraft carried out operations in the South China Sea at night to detect the PLA’s latest weapons and troop deployments.