The U.S. military has intensified its aerial surveillance operations along the southern border with Mexico, deploying high-altitude U-2 spy planes, Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft, and Air Force RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance planes to collect intelligence and monitor activity in cartel-dominated regions, according to unnamed U.S. defense sources speaking to Fox News.
The surveillance flights of the U.S. military have increased in frequency following an executive order from President Donald Trump, issued on his first day in office, which declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since then, military aircraft have been conducting approximately one sortie per day along the length of the border, focusing on intelligence-gathering efforts to counteract drug trafficking and cartel-related violence.
Recent open-source flight tracking data reveals that an RC-135V Rivet Joint, one of the U.S. Air Force’s most advanced signals intelligence (SIGINT) platforms, conducted highly unusual reconnaissance flights over the Gulf of California.
Wow, for the first time I have ever seen, a U.S. Air Force RC-135V “Rivet Joint” Signals Intelligence Platform from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, is operating within Mexican Airspace, over the Gulf of California between Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa. pic.twitter.com/ucEDSc4Zxj
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 3, 2025
A USAF RC-135V Rivet Joint signals reconnaissance aircraft is currently loitering over the Gulf of California, hoovering up signals intelligence from Mexico.
One of the first concrete signs of new US military activity within Mexico. pic.twitter.com/2La1KHVA2m
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 3, 2025
The aircraft, serial number 64-14845, departed from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, home to the Air Force’s 55th Wing, which operates the bulk of the Rivet Joint fleet. The plane reportedly flew south along the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula before entering the Gulf of California, a region notorious for being a stronghold of the Tijuana and Sinaloa cartels.
Reports of the aircraft entering Mexican airspace remain unverified but if confirmed, the development could raise diplomatic concerns between the two nations.
This is something I haven’t seen before – a US Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint SIGINT platform operating in Mexican airspace. I’ve got a few hours on 845….
This may be part of the new US-Mexico (Trump-Sheinbaum) cooperation against the drug cartels.
That’s an orbit, not a… pic.twitter.com/tS57HjBPmR
— Rick Francona (@MiddleEastGuy) February 4, 2025
U.S. defense officials insist the flights comply with international airspace regulations. “I can’t discuss specific tracks or flight paths, but the aircraft are supporting a common issue affecting both of our sovereign nations,” an Air Force spokesperson told Fox News. “We respect Mexico’s sovereignty. We don’t need another nation’s permission to operate in international airspace.”
Neither the U.S. Northern Command nor the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., has provided comments on the development.
