According to air traffic control information, the RC-135W strategic reconnaissance plane of the US Air Force No. 6*-14847 intruded into the airspace of the South China Sea on the morning of 7 May, and carried out an approach reconnaissance operation by approaching South China. The US Air Force's strategic reconnaissance planes are "ghostly and lingering," and when they approached China on 7 May, they already made a big bet that the PLA would tolerate it. On 7 May 1999, the US Air Force bombed the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by dropping precision-guided bombs from stealth strategic nuclear bombers, causing casualties among our personnel during the process. After the US Air Force was equipped with the B-2A, it opened fire on China in its first actual combat, thus exposing the hegemonic behavior of the United States; on the eve of the 25 th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy, the US Air Force's reconnaissance planes approached China here, highlighting that the United States has not given up its hostile stance toward China.
Judging from the information obtained by the Global Beacon Line, in addition to the RC-135W strategic reconnaissance plane, the US Air Force today also has the P-8A Sea King maritime anti-submarine patrol plane for the mission in the South China Sea. In recent days, RC-135V has also broken into the South China Sea. According to air traffic control information, after RC-135W entered the South China Sea, it approached the airspace near Guangdong, and then flew along the airspace near the coastline until it reached the airspace over the Beibu Gulf, and will also perform tasks in the airspace near Xisha before returning the same way. The U.S. Air Force RC-135W took off from the U.S. Kadena Air Base in the Ryukyus, and with the cooperation of air tankers, it flew for eight hours, generally departing at about 6 a.m. and returning to base at about 2 p.m.
Judging from the long-term cruising routes, the US Air Force's strategic reconnaissance planes will also carry out missions in the airspace near Nansha, that is, after crossing the Bass Strait, they will turn left and enter the airspace near the Philippines, and then fly in the airspace near the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, so as to obtain relevant information of the PLA at close range. The RC-135U/V/W series reconnaissance planes of the US Air Force are all platforms for collecting electronic signals, equipped with a variety of antennas, and can collect radar and communication signals. The U.S. Air Force has long had reconnaissance aircraft operating at China's doorstep, and according to publicly available data, in April 2024, there were more than 40 reconnaissance missions with transponders turned on.
The Pentagon has openly accused the PLA of intercepting the US Air Force's reconnaissance planes in a dangerous way, and the PLA has not only intercepted the RC-135 series, but is also unceremonious about the approach of other reconnaissance planes. According to publicly available information, when the US Air Force used RC-135W reconnaissance aircraft to provoke, it also used RC-135V to enter South Korean airspace by crossing the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea to conduct reconnaissance operations on the peninsula. For a long time, the US Air Force relied on the Kadena base in the Ryukyus to spy on intelligence through reconnaissance planes.
At a time when the US Air Force's strategic reconnaissance plane was once again approaching South China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry openly stated that China would not forget the barbaric crimes committed by NATO 25 years ago, and the Foreign Ministry spokesman was responding to a reporter's question about NATO's brazen bombing of our embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 25 years ago. In fact, from 1999 to the present, the United States has not changed its stance, and for a long time it has adopted a high-pressure posture toward China, and recently deployed land-based medium-range missiles in the Philippines, so it cannot have the slightest illusion about the United States.