WASHINGTON: A US Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft went on a mission from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to monitor India's first test-fire of an anti-satellite missile, according to Aircraft Spots, which tracks movements of military aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that India successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite, describing it as a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space super powers.
The test made India the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.
"USAF RC-135S 62-4128 CHAOS45 departed Diego Garcia at 2330Z for a mission in the Bay of Bengal to monitor #India's ASAT anti-satellite missile test," Aircraft Spots, a plane spotter based in California, said in a tweet.
It also said that a UN aircraft was also involved in refuelling the spy plane.
"USAF KC-135Rs FRESH53 & 54 provided tanker support and returned to Diego Garcia," it added.
RC-135 is a reconnaissance aircraft with the US Air Force to gather near real-time on-scene intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination.
The US has a strategic military facility in Diego García, an atoll in the central Indian Ocean.
The 12-square-mile Diego Garcia lies nearly equidistant from Australia, India, the Saudi peninsula and Africa's east coast.