E-6 Mercury (TACAMO)
Posted on 02/10/2003 2:59:40 PM PST by HAL9000
TOKYO, Feb 10 (AFP) - As the Korean nuclear crisis escalates, US spy planes are stepping up activities around the strategic Japanese island of Okinawa, a report said Monday.
The only US air force WC-135W plane, which helps collect and identify debris from nuclear weapons detonations, landed at Okinawa's Kadena airbase six days earlier, the Jiji Press news agency quoted informed sources as saying.
The aircraft, nicknamed Constant Phoenix and assigned to the Offutt air base in Nebraska, was believed to be still on Okinawa as its departure has not been confirmed.
An E-6 Mercury, which provides command and communications in controlling bombers, also flew into Kadena for the first time in about five years and stayed there for five days until Saturday, the report added.
The activities were a message to North Korea that the United States "does not rule out the possibility of its use of force in the future," Jiji said.
Amid international outcry and pressure against its move to reactivate its nuclear programme, North Korea has threatened to lift its self-imposed moratorium on missile tests.
The E-6 is capable of communicating with nuclear-powered submarines operating undersea, giving rise to speculation that such vessels are being deployed in waters off the Okinawan chain in the East China Sea, Jiji said.
It added that RC-135 spy planes, which can monitor ballistic missile launches, conducted night landing and take-off drills at Kadena last week.
Eight F-15 fighters also flew in from the US mainland on Sunday, Jiji said.
The USS Invincible, a warship equipped with missile-tracking radar, called at the US base of Sasebo on the main southern Japan island of Kyushu from late last month till last week, the report added.
The US Defence Department has ordered two dozen long-range bombers -- an equal number of B-1s and B-52s -- to prepare to deploy to Guam as a check against North Korea, according to officials in Washington.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, calling the situation in North Korea "dangerous," said last week that US forces are positioned to deal with challenges in other theaters even while they are focused on Iraq.
That is over-kill. Two Ohio class SSBN's could annihilate all strategic, Command and Control, naval bases, and airbases with runways over 5,000 feet in China AND North Korea.
There are alot of MIRV'ed Trident IIs on those boats. Only 2-3 Tridents (each with 8-10 350kt warheads) would be more than suffiecient to mae that which is not already slag in North Korea into a smouldering crater.
Perfect sloagan for the sub boss in the sky.
It's not what you missed, but what you "saw" that wasn't there, a referance to boomers or missle boats. Most likely what's out there is one or more fast attacks with tomahawk cruise missles. They can receive the transmissions from Mercury too.
They build it, South Korea installs one,off the shelf the same day,courtesy of uncle sugar, and the pennisula is back to rough parity.
Not that I am fond of nuclear proliferation, but why are the diplomats and the democrats acting like this is the end of the world?
India and Pakistan are playing the MAD game, let the Korea's play too.
Maybe they will finally come to the same conclusion the US and the USSR did.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.