Thread by @steffanwatkins

🇺🇸 Has anyone looked up the Mode-S of the #USNavy P-8 Poseidon used in this piece, and put together the timeline of this story yet?

https://twitter.com/janisfrayer/status/1629203037750464513

Mike is on the case, zeroing in on the time, which is what I needed! 😎

https://twitter.com/TheBaseLeg/status/1629476215345250306

I'm presuming the flight was conducted with journalists from multiple outlets simultaneously. (NBC, CNN, more?)

Okay, there were 3 transponders associated with US Navy P-8 Poseidons picked up by the #ADSBexchange network of receivers the vicinity of the SCS on 2023-02-24, and all three have been picked up in the vicinity of #KadenaAB 🇺🇸 in Okinawa 🇯🇵 lately.

#AE67DA
#AE67F8
#AE683D

Three US Navy P-8A Poseidon identified themselves with spoofed alternate Mode-S numbers than the aircraft were originally assigned, so there isn't just a 1:1 ratio of Mode-S/Registration pairing, making it harder to tell which one flew the mission; they call them "tactical" hexes

We can still track them, we just don't know which specific aircraft it was from their Mode-S transmissions.

#AE67F8 didn't seem to fly near the South China Sea, I didn't see any Mode-S hits anywhere near the SCS. They were presumably doing other things, departing ~01:00z and returning ~08:50z. (~7:50hr sortie)

#AE683D was picked up near Taiwan and The Philippines, they took off at ~00:45z and returned ~09:50z (9:05hr sortie)

#AE67DA departed last ~01:25z and returned ~9:20z (8:05hr sortie), and it's worth mentioning at 5:30z they were picked up near a receiver in proximity to Vietnam.

🇺🇸 #USNavy P-8A Poseidon 169549 (normally #AE5F3E) was the aircraft they were seen boarding in the video (keen-eye Mike!)

https://twitter.com/TheBaseLeg/status/1629492034062143494?s=20

I'm still not confident of which of the three spoofed "tactical" hexes were used for the flight - the PLAAF know, we don't. 🤷‍♂️

I think this is Mike FTW; #AE683D was picked up near The Philippines and Taiwan between 06:40z-07:54z, which fits with a 07:38z interception of the destroyer.

https://twitter.com/TheBaseLeg/status/1629489704017207296?s=20

Coming from the west we have #AE67DA that stayed in Taiwan's FIR, and coming from the South we have #AE683D, which is confirmation that the P-8A Poseidon using Mode-S AE683D is the one the journalists were on, based on Mike's video analysis.

Having more #ADSBexchange receivers along the coast of the SCS in Vietnam 🇻🇳, Malaysia 🇲🇾, Hong Kong 🇭🇰, the Philippines 🇵🇭, etc would really help the open source community track aircraft over the South China Sea.

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adsbexchange.com/how-to-feed/