A U.S. aircraft that specializes in detecting radioactive debris after the detonation of a nuclear device has arrived on Okinawa amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. An Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix — commonly referred to as a nuke-sniffer — arrived at Kadena Air Base last Friday evening, said Satoru Kuba, an Okinawan who monitors military aircraft traffic at Kadena Air Base. A spokesperson for the Air Force’s 18th Wing at Kadena did not immediately respond to requests for comment,
and Japan’s Ministry of Defense would not immediately verify the report. However, a senior Japan Self-Defense Forces official confirmed the aircraft’s arrival, according to a report Wednesday by Japan’s Nikkei newspaper. The Pentagon has often deployed one of the Air Force’s two WC-135 aircraft to the Asia-Pacific region since North Korea detonated an underground nuclear device in 2006. The plane also flew over Japan in 2011 after the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, according to the Washington Post. MORE
