Opinion/Letter to the Editor posted to The Manila Times (Oct 29, 2020): USS Maine tactics all over again
The recent incident of US Air Force Spy Plane RC-135S disguised as Philippine Aircraft over the Yellow Sea, a critical disputed area to gather intelligence will make one wonder why did the USAF used a spy plane despite the fact that the United States of America has an advanced technology when it comes to Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). It has invested billions of dollars in spy satellite and drones.
The era of spy planes is long over. When the U2 Spy plane was shot down in May 1, 1960 while performing aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory, it was replaced by more efficient super fast spy plane the SR-71 “Blackbird.” It can reach a cruising speed of March 3 that no missile can catch up with it. The advent of satellites rendered these spy planes obsolete. The SR-71 was retired several times until its final retirement in 1999.
In the 70s when the first generation of spy satellites “Corona” and “Zenith” were launched into space, it opened a new ball game in SGINT. As of now thousands of satellites commercial and military hover above the earth. Even commercial satellites are used for spying. The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) “Misty” Project has been launching stealth satellite with “unknown” payloads since the 1990s. The most recent National Reconnaissance Office Launch (NROL) was the Nemesis in 2004. It has stealth capability that eludes detection from earth stations.
One may argue that the intel gathering of satellites may be limited by its orbit. But the US Air Force has 45 Global Hawk (RQ-3Bs) stealth drones each to have an estimated cost of US $ 60.9 million. It has broad overview systematic surveillance using high resolution synthetic aperture radar and long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors with long loiter times over target areas. It has a surveying capacity of 100,000 square kilometers a day. The US Navy has the latest Northrop Grumman MQC-Triton a long endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that can also track under water activities.
Given these arsenal of spy satellite and drones, why did the US flew an obsolete spy plane over the Yellow Sea with a miscoded hex code? One essential element of espionage is being incognito. Despite the stealth technologies of the NRO’s satellites and drones, they used an antiquated spy plane knowing fully that it can easily be detected flying in a critical disputed territory. There was really something very sinister and malicious in the act.
This coincided months after Washington formally rejected Beijing’s expansive maritime claim over the region. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier said that any attacks of Philippine vessels or aircraft whether military or civilian will prompt the US to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty to defend the Philippines.
The use of miscoded military hex codes is actually a common practice among spy planes. But the timing and the area of operation are very suspicious and as many authors argue may endanger Philippine civilian airlines, as shown in the past when civilian airlines were shot down for mistaken identity. This was indeed an act of provocation.
Philippine National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said that the US maybe testing the capacity of Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) and its official reaction. But this is too high a cost at the expense of endangering civilian airlines.
Given the circumstances of the highly advanced SIGINT of the US, flying an obsolete spy plane with a miscoded hex code in a tense area in the South China Sea exposes the sinister tactics of the warmongerer United States of America. Unfortunately just like in the Cold War Era they will use pawns for their own menacing interests.
Celso Lencioco Cainglet
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/10/29/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/uss-maine-tactics-all-over-again/788594/
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