China has not yet agreed to release the plane. At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer reasserted the U.S. right to conduct such patrols. Right from the beginning it has always been the position of the United States that it is our prerogative and right to fly over international airspace to preserve the peace by flying reconnaissance missions, but I m not going to entertain any questions about any specific missions. An intelligence official said the United States has had no EP-3E surveillance flights since the April 1 collision. The lack of flights has limited the ability of Pentagon intelligence agencies to learn more about Chinese military operations, the key target of the electronic interception of radio and telephone communication.
Strategic intelligence includes information on nuclear weapons, such as tests and new deployments.
Assigned to the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., Rivet Joint is stuffed with antennae arrays. Bill Gertz contributed to this report. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing, retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.