CHINESE AIR FORCE LINGUIST LOCATIONS UPDATE

And then just two miles from Kadena was the NSA's Hanza Remote Collection Facility, a massive electronic ear facing China, and scores of additional intercept operators. There, hundreds of agency operators sat with their ears constantly tuned to Chinese frequencies and their eyes scanning Chinese intercepts 24/7. In addition to its vast number of cyber spies at Fort Meade focused on China, the NSA also had the world's largest and most expensive fleet of spy satellites orbiting over the country every ninety minutes, as well as half a dozen expansive and costly listening posts stretching from northern Japan to South Korea to Okinawa.

CHINESE AIR FORCE LINGUIST LOCATIONS UPDATE

Assigned to the NSA's Sensitive Reconnaissance Operations Program (SRO), the crew was scheduled to once again fly along the Chinese coast to update lists of signals, pick up a few conversations, and see if some ships or subs had moved from point A to point B or point C. One of eleven left in the fleet, the tired 1960s-era spy plane bristled with porcupine-like antennas.

As the engines coughed blue-black exhaust fumes like a heavy smoker, the aircraft crawled slowly toward the runway on Okinawa's Kadena Air Base. 'Kilo Romeo 919,' said a voice in the tower, 'clear to taxi.' Moments later the pilot, Navy lieutenant Shane Osborn, released the parking brake and eased the four power levers forward, his knuckles white. Sunrise was still a half-hour away and the temperature was just at the freezing mark when the lineman removed the blocks from the worn tires of the EP-3E ARIES II, a gray-and-white four-engine propjet with a donut-shaped 'Big Look' radar attached to its lower belly. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

Chinese air force linguist locations