TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Aircraft spotters reported two high-altitude U.S. military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) flying towards the south of Taiwan on Wednesday (July 15), with one website appearing to indicate that the aircraft flew over China as well.
On Wednesday afternoon at 1:32 p.m., aircraft spotter Golf9 detected an unidentified aircraft with the hex code AE64C6 flying just off the west coast of the northern Philippines. Golf9 suggested that the aircraft was a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude surveillance aircraft.
First sighting of AE64C6 off of the Philippines. (Twitter, Golf9 screenshot)
At 2:14 p.m., Golf9 posted a screenshot from ADS-B Exchange appearing to show the aircraft over China's Fujian Province and heading due north. He then questioned the accuracy of the route by saying "The display of the ADS-B Exchange may be incorrect."
Second sighting of AE64C6. (Twitter, Golf9 screenshot)
At 2:32 p.m., the aircraft spotter Tokyo Radar also noticed AE64C6 flying over southern China and asked: "What is this?" At 2:44 p.m., Tokyo Radar followed up with another tweet showing the aircraft over eastern China and flying at an altitude of 49,996 feet and a speed of 985 kt, prompting him to write, "Is altitude 50,000 ft a high altitude reconnaissance plane or UAV?"
Japan time 15 July 2020 15:30
— Tokyo Radar(@JapanRader) July 15, 2020
Reg.: n/a
Country:USA
ICAO:AE64C6
It's flying over China, but what is this?pic.twitter.com/b02ufWwNMr
Later that evening at 9:27 p.m., the Peking University Institute of Ocean Research's SCS Probing Initiative reported spotting an aircraft with the hex number AE5C74, flying to the southeast of Taiwan. The Chinese aircraft tracker described it as a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton as well.
Rare to find an unmanned aerial vehicle in the #SouthChinaSea.
— SCS Probing Initiative (@SCS_PI) July 15, 2020
On July 15, US Navy MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude long endurance UAV, was spotted patrolling to the southeast of Taiwan. pic.twitter.com/KjMgKnkuNl
On the ADS-B Exchange website, two routes are shown for AE64C6 on July 15, with one showing the plane starting from the Indonesian island of Borneo and heading north over the South China Sea and then over China, Russia, the arctic circle, then finally landing in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The other route shows it taking off from the Indonesian island of Halmahera, flying to the east of the Philippines, the two Koreas, northeast China, Russia, and Canada, before landing in the state of Texas in the U.S.
Two routes of AE64C6 on July 15. (ADS-B Exchange screenshot)
When asked to explain the odd flight path of AE64C6, Golf9 told Taiwan News that this could have been caused by a "bug in the application."
