The recent incident of US Air Force Spy Plane RC-135S disguised as Philippine Aircraft over the Yellow Sea, a critical disputed area to gather intelligence will make one wonder why did the USAF used a spy plane despite the fact that the United States of America has an advanced technology when it comes to Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). It has invested billions of dollars in spy satellite and drones.
The era of spy planes is long over. When the U2 Spy plane was shot down in May 1, 1960 while performing aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory, it was replaced by more efficient super fast spy plane the SR-71 “Blackbird.” It can reach a cruising speed of March 3 that no missile can catch up with it. The advent of satellites rendered these spy planes obsolete. The SR-71 was retired several times until its final retirement in 1999.
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