1: Here's my summary of #USAF reconnaissance activity in southwest New Mexico on August 18, 2022. The VIP transport and recon flights were unusual for that specific area, so I checked previous tracks. 
2: I closely follow air traffic in southern Arizona and New Mexico, and I travel through the area frequently. When I saw a round-trip US Army VIP flight from Tucson to Lordsburg with a 30-minute stop, I took notice. And then the spooks arrived...
3: Lordsburg is a small town in southwest New Mexico with few military aircraft ops. There are military training routes in the area, but they typically don't stop in Lordsburg, and its usually A-10s, C-130s and F-16s flying out of Tucson. It was strange to see a VIP flight there.
4: 3.5 hours later, two USAF recon planes, an E-3 Sentry out of Tucson, AZ, and an RC-135V Rivet Joint out of Lincoln, NB showed up at the same time, just north of Lordsburg. E-3s are rare in Tucson, and it's even more rare to see an RC-135V flying in the area
5: The 'racetrack' orbits of the two aircraft intersected along a standard cross-country air traffic route. My first thought was that it could be related to tests at White Sands Missile Range, 100 miles east. However, most recon flights around White Sands are closer to the range
6: I checked previous military flights in the hours leading up, and I spotted a US Navy E-6 Mercury airborne command post that flew nearby. It was flying along a standard cross-country route. Even so, it was an outlier so I included it in the graphic.
7: The E-3 Sentry and RC-135V are two of the most sophisticated aerial reconnaissance platforms in the USAF inventory, and it was notable to see them flying together in an area they rarely go.
8/end: This could easily be part of an exercise or test. The E-6 flight may be unrelated. Either way, it was worth noting the unusual activity out there.
*E-6 Mercury and C-40 Clipper were flying east
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