[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] US-ROK Reconnaissance Aircraft Fully Deployed Following North Korea's Satellite Launch Announcement

North Korea Announces Reconnaissance Satellite Launch, US-ROK Recon Aircraft Deployed
US RC-135V and ROK Geumgang Recon Aircraft Strengthen Missions
Possibility of Additional US Strategic Assets Deployment if North Provokes

South Korea and U.S. reconnaissance assets have once again taken to the skies over the Korean Peninsula. This is to detect launch signals and trajectories of the launch vehicle as North Korea has announced plans to launch a 'reconnaissance satellite.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a civilian aircraft tracking site on the 22nd, an RC-135V that took off from Okinawa, Japan, was detected flying over Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, heading toward the West Sea. The U.S. Air Force's main communication surveillance reconnaissance aircraft, the RC-135V, is equipped with advanced electronic sensors capable of detecting missile launch preparation signals in real time from hundreds of kilometers away.

It is also reported that the South Korean Air Force has increased the number of reconnaissance flights. The South Korean military is strengthening reconnaissance missions with aircraft such as Geumgang and Baekdu (RC-800), and Saemae (RF-16) reconnaissance planes.

Baekdu has been collecting North Korea's electronic intelligence (Elint) and communications intelligence (Comint). The Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft is an intelligence asset capable only of capturing North Korea's electronic intelligence (Elint) and communications intelligence (Comint). Electronic and communications intelligence involves intercepting or eavesdropping to learn about equipment operations such as radar activation and the content of wired and wireless communications. Additionally, a function for telemetry intelligence (Fisint) has been added. The telemetry intelligence function detects signal exchanges between electronic devices even if there is no movement in North Korean military communications, nuclear facilities, or missile bases. In the case of missile launches, the main signal detection range of the North Korean military reaches up to 370 km. Based on Pyongyang, this includes the Dongchang-ri missile base and the Yongbyon nuclear facility.

Geumgang and Saemae collect visual information covering the area from Nampo to Hamhung in North Korea. Geumgang and Baekdu (RC-800) are assigned to the Air Force's 15th Fighter Wing, while the Saemae reconnaissance aircraft is assigned to the 19th Fighter Wing.

North Korea has notified Japan that it will launch a satellite between midnight on the 24th and midnight on the 31st. The three maritime danger zones designated by North Korea are two locations in the southwestern Yellow Sea and one in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines, all outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These zones are similar to the orbit used when North Korea launched a military reconnaissance satellite last May.

On May 31st, North Korea launched a reconnaissance satellite (Malligyung-1) aboard the space launch vehicle (Chollima-1), but it crashed into the sea about 200 km west of Eocheongdo, Gunsan, Jeonbuk Province. At that time, North Korea announced that "after the first stage separation, the second stage engine ignition was abnormal, resulting in loss of thrust and a crash into the West Sea." The military authorities recovered debris such as the second stage body and satellite remnants and, after detailed analysis, assessed that it had no military utility.

Following North Korea's announcement of a second launch, the military is reported to have entered a surveillance posture by deploying Aegis destroyers capable of detecting and tracking ballistic missiles in the West Sea.

Some speculate that if North Korea launches a reconnaissance satellite, U.S. strategic assets may be deployed to the Korean Peninsula in conjunction with the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises.

Strategic assets refer to weapons through which the U.S. can provide extended deterrence to its allies, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strategic bombers such as B-1, B-2, and B-52, nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, and F-35 stealth fighters capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons (nuclear bombs).

In the joint exercises held in the first half of this March, the B-1B strategic bomber, nicknamed the 'Death Swan,' was deployed. It is expected that the B-52H 'Stratofortress' strategic bomber, recently redeployed to Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, will participate in the second half exercises. The B-52, along with the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit, is one of the three major U.S. strategic bombers, capable of flying supersonically up to 14,000 km without refueling at an altitude of 15,000 meters and dropping nuclear bombs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.