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US Air Force Deploys Powerful Spy Aircraft To Keep An Eye On Kabul; Only Russia, China Operate Such Jets

Afghanistan’s sudden and unexpected collapse has led to a massive humanitarian crisis. With all eyes on safe evacuation from the war-ravaged nation, the US has been flying its F-18 fighter jets and has also deployed a spy plane with the call sign Python 52 to keep an eye on the region.

The RC-135 spy plane was inducted into the US Airforce in January 1964 amid the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Boeing Defence and Integrated Systems designed and developed the aircraft, which was meant to replace the C-135 Stratolifter and aid the US in its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations against the erstwhile Soviet Union.

There were also reports that US F-18 fighter jets flew over Kabul to ensure security around the airport area, Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor said on Thursday. “As we look at the last 24 hours, F-18s from the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group flew armed over watched flights over Kabul to ensure enhanced security,” Taylor said during a briefing.

Taylor added that the F-18 jets are flying continuously in support of the US efforts to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan.

Aerial Surveillance 

The four-engine, medium-weight reconnaissance plane with an overall length of 41.1 meters has 14 variants. The version spotted in Kabul on August 17 was the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, also called Airseeker. Airseeker is an advanced version of the base platform, which has been equipped with a state-of-the-art sensor suite to be able to track and identify geolocation signals.

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The spy plane comes with a fully digital glass cockpit and carries 27 crew members, drawn from diverse fields including, electronic warfare, intelligence, and in-flight maintenance technicians.

The spy plane’s onboard electro-optic sensors can trace geo-located signals within the electromagnetic spectrum and transfer the captured data to specialist operators through secure satellite communication data links, bolstering intelligence operations.




BoeingRC-135
US Air Force’s RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft.

The Airseeker, with the serial number 62-4138, was tracked leaving Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in the Persian Gulf on August 17.

“The jet then flew out over the North Arabian Sea, before turning north toward Afghanistan via Pakistan. This is a routine route for American military aircraft flying from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan…but it is not clear if it has returned to base,” reported The War Zone based on data from online flight-tracking websites.

The plane boasts maximum airspeeds of 870 kilometers/hour and a service ceiling of 6,500km and 39,000ft. The treasure trove of actionable intelligence the aircraft gives combined with the lack of any immediate threat made the decision seem operationally sound.

It is worth noting that the Taliban do not possess the air defense capability required to counter the American spy plane, according to some military analysts.

In military operations, Airseeker can collate information about the type and location of various signal emitters, such as radars, to aid the end-user in constructing an “electronic order of battle” detailing enemy air defense, command, and control among other critical data.

However, it also possesses the capability to intercept and monitor communications chatter across a broad area and can relay crucial information directly to friendly forces on the ground.

In the operational environment the Airseeker was operating, its crew may have consisted of crypto linguists fluent in Pashto or Dari and other languages and dialects which may be used on ground zero. Having a crack team of linguists would allow for the analysis of transmissions picked up by the spy planes sensors.

According to The War Zone, the spy plane may have played a critical role in keeping a tab on the Taliban’s radio chatter. Additionally, the analysts onboard may have gathered useful details about the group’s command and control capabilities, and their potential vulnerabilities.

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