Flight Tracker Shows US Air Force Plane Patrolling China’s Shores

A U.S. military aircraft flew hourslong reconnaissance sorties along China’s coastline on at least three days this week, according to flight records, coinciding on one occasion with the Chinese navy’s testing of its advanced new aircraft carrier. Aircraft GPS signals received by the flight-tracking network Flightradar24 showed an RC-135U Combat Sent spy plane taking off from Kadena Air Base, on Japan’s Okinawa island, and embarking on long-endurance flights on May 7, 9 and 10. Okinawa is home to around two-thirds of the 50,000 or so American troops stationed in Japan, while Kadena—near the center of the so-called first island chain—is…