2 US spy planes from Okinawa monitor possible NK rocket launch

Two RC-135S spy planes of the U.S. Air Force took off from the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa in the predawn hours of Monday, possibly to monitor and track the launch of a North Korean rocket Kyoto News Service reported.

The agency reported that the two Cobra Ball renaissance planes flew towards the Korean Peninsula, after departing the air base at 3:50 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

The spy planes are reportedly to be equipped with a precision radar and optical measurement devices.

Belonging to an air base in the mainland of the United States, the two planes used to make surveillance flights after being dispatched to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, when North Korea showed signs of launching missiles.

Earlier, the U.S. Navy has stationed four Aegis destroyers equipped with highly capable radar and interceptor missiles to the waters off the Korean Peninsula and East China Sea in preparation against the possible launch of the rocket by North Korea.