An RC-135V flew two sorties in the past 48 hours over the tight confines of the Gulf of California that sits adjacent to a notorious cartel hot spot.
A U.S. Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint conducted a highly unusual flight in the Gulf of California yesterday, between Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and the rest of that country, according to online flight tracking data. The strategic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) plane looks to have done the same today.
The Rivet Joint is one of America’s most capable intelligence-gathering assets and the appearance of one off the Mexican coast is a significant development. This comes amid a major increase in U.S. military support for operations along the border with Mexico under President Donald Trump and talk of unprecedented direct action by American forces against drug cartels, which you can read more about in this separate TWZ feature.
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The appearance of a Rivet Joint in the Gulf of California also comes amid open discussion about the possibility of the U.S. military taking direct action against drug cartels in Mexico, including targeted strikes. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in an interview on Fox last Friday that “all options will be on the table,” but added that any such decision to act would rest with Trump
The capabilities that the Air Force’s RC-135V/Ws offer mean its presence could be a precursor to such an operational intent, dramatically increasing the quality and volume of available intelligence collection. Rivet Joints are used regularly in this general role in the lead-up to larger operations. As just one example, Rivet Joints flew regularly off the coast of Syria in the lead-up to U.S.-led missile strikes on multiple targets in that country in April 2018 during Trump’s first term in office.
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