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Fewer US spy planes spotted over South China Sea during PLA’s Taiwan drills: think tank
- Beijing-based group says US sorties in the area were down by a third in August
- ‘US aircraft made five sorties to the north and east of the island’ while the exercises were under way
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The number of US reconnaissance aircraft spotted in the disputed South China Sea fell by a third in August, distracted by operations around Taiwan, according to a Beijing-based think tank.
In a Twitter post on Friday, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said land-based US military reconnaissance aircraft made 46 sorties over the South China Sea in August, down from 67 in July.
Based on data from a flight-tracking system known as ADS-B, SCSPI said six types of aircraft were spotted in the area during August, including ground-tracking E-8Cs and RC-135V signals-gathering planes.
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The July figure was higher than the number reported for June, probably because of activities associated with the USS Benfold destroyer and USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group, the think tank said in an earlier post.
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SCSPI director Hu Bo said the main reason for the decrease in US aircraft in the South China Sea in August was the deployment of reconnaissance planes around Taiwan during PLA drills around the island.
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