Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted an Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix in an unsafe manner, including flying inverted above the USAF plane on Wednesday. The WC-135 was flying a “routine” mission in international airspace over the East China Sea at the time, according to Pacific Air Forces. The Su-30 jets came within 150 feet of the WC-135, and one flew in an “inverted maneuver,” a defense official told ABC News. The US military is addressing the incident with China, according to PACAF. The Air Force’s WC-135 has repeatedly flown in the region to detect possible nuclear tests by collecting air samples the the region.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.