North Korea intercepts U.S. reconnaissance plane

CNN ^ | Monday, March 3, 2003 Posted: 4:28 PM EST (2128 GMT) | From Barbara Starr and Mike Mount

[fivecatsandadog]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted over the Sea of Japan on Sunday by four armed North Korean MiG fighter jets, U.S. military sources said.

At least two of the planes were MiG-29s. The two other fighters were thought to be MiG-23s.

U.S. military sources said Monday that the Air Force plane was in international airspace about 150 miles [240 kilometers] off the Korean peninsula when the MiGs approached and flew alongside for 20 minutes, at some points coming within less than 400 feet of the U.S. plane.

One of the North Korean fighters locked its targeting radar onto the RC-135.

The RC-135 is a modified version of the military C-135 cargo plane, which is based on the Boeing 707 commercial airliner.

The Air Force plane returned to its base in Okinawa, Japan, without incident. U.S. officials say it was the first incident of a U.S. plane being intercepted by North Korean aircraft in more than 30 years.

[DoughtyOne]

...er hasn't figure out...

[azhenfud]

Are these duds trying to fly into our planes too?

("e" intentionally omitted)

[ambrose]

the biggest joke of all is that Jimmy got his Nobel award ostensively for his "peace" deal with the N Koreans.

[DoughtyOne]

I thought it was his Camp Davis Sadat Begin efforts. If it was Korea, cheeze whiz!

[azhenfud]

Reckon Amy can spell "IRONY"?

[ambrose]

I think it was given more along the lines of a "lifetime achievement award", not for any one specific act of appeasement on his part. But N Korea was among the "good deeds" that impressed the Nobel idiots. Here's an original FR thread on Jimmy getting the prize:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/767173/posts

[El Gato]

Call me an idiot, but I don't know what the term intercept means in the aviation context. I used to think it meant "force down" or "shoot down" - but here it seems to mean "fly really close in a scary way."

It means fly really close to the "target" from whereever you happend to start. It may or may not be scary and it may or may not involve a force or shoot down. It's a term of (military) art, although it's meaning doesn't really differ much from the common meaning.

FWIW President Bush flew an "interceptor" (F-102) for the Texas Air Guard. And speaking of Texas Air Guard interceptors, two (F-16s)just took off over my head as I was posting this. (I think two, I only saw the one, but heard two). Strictly speaking the F-16 is not an interceptor, but a multi role fighter, it's just that these have an interceptor mission, or actually the training of pilots for the interceptor mission.

[BCrago66]

Thanks ET and El Gato. I don't think the reporter who wrote the article knew either, so I had to turn to FreeRepublic.com.

[CCWoody]

WWIII is taking shape. ~ DoughtyOne

Hardly!

Woody.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks Ambrose.

[First_Salute]

Bingo; you got it!

Just exactly what the Red Chinese and Russians want you to feel, by their yank on the North Korean choker chain.

They want to create in the public eye so that THE talk of "world opinion" is focused upon a "nuclear stalemate."

To get everybody to "back down" from it, means "you" have to give up something.

What they want, is for Bush to give up the use of deep penetrator nuclear bunker-busters.

That's it. That's what it's all about.

The leftists are busy making chips with which to bargain while the forces of freedom are not making C-17 aircraft which, every day, we begin to desparately need.<PThat is the situation, at 6:24 P.M. EST U.S.A. Monday.

[dark_lord]

N. Korean game plan - reunite the Korean penninsula under their rule. How to get away with it.

(1) Ratchet up the tension by doing provocative incidents. This forces us to respond by deploying additional forces. For example, expect to see US fighter escorts now for our reconnaissance flights.
(2) N. Korea screams to the world press that the US is planning to invade because we are deploying additional forces to the region.
(3) N. Korea refuses to negotiate with the S. Koreans or the UN, demands to negotiate only with the US.
(4) When the US does not negotiate, N. Korea claims that US is planning to invade because the US refuses to discuss "defusing the situation".
(5) When US is fully engaged in Iraq, N. Korea stages an "incident". They detonate one of their own nukes (they have two, right?) on their own territory, taking out some of their own infrastructure. They then scream this was a US attack (after all, who else would have nuked them?)
(6) They then (in self defense) drop their other nuke right on the 37,000 US troops on the DMZ, and then attack S. Korea.

Ya'll read it here 1st.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

"U.S. officials say it was the first incident of a
U.S. plane being intercepted by North Korean aircraft in more than 30 years."

Why do I doubt that? The Cold War featured dozens of our planes being shot down by communist forces. That is probably the tip of the iceberg. Many more incidents were likely suppressed.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Looks like the MIG-29 Fulcrum is their most capable aircraft. Check out the link below for a complete order of battle.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/air-force-equipment.htm

[A CA Guy]

So North Korea wants war for oil?

Where are the Hollywood protestors over this.

[Erasmus]

NASA satellite image of the Korean peninsula taken at
1903CUT 11.9.2003:

[fivecatsandadog]

That's a chilling scenario you present, and totally plausible. I hope you're wrong.

[DoughtyOne]

I realize they have "some" enriched plutonium, but isn't this a bit much? LOL What am I seeing here? Are you spoofing me?

[Mike-o-Matic]

I think he's saying N. Korea is gonna glow after we nuke it.

[DoughtyOne]

Oops, my mistake. I didn't see the date down there. Good one.