US spy planes over South China Sea likely surveyed nuclear fallout of sub collision, observers say

US special-purpose aircraft the Constant Phoenix may have been in the South China Sea region to examine radioactive material, military experts said, after a Beijing-based think tank cited satellite images to report five American reconnaissance planes operating in the area at the weekend.

This comes a month after a US Navy nuclear submarine hit an unidentified object while submerged in international waters in the South China Sea, prompting China to express serious concerns about a “nuclear leak”.