C-40C transport aircraft
According to the public information of the flight tracking website Flighttradar24, a US Air Force C-40C transport aircraft with the call sign SPAR19 (i.e. the military model of Boeing 737) landed at the Paya Lebar Air Force Base in Singapore in the early morning of August 1. The aircraft is suspected to be a special plane for the Pelosi trip to Asia.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the same day that a delegation led by U.S. House Speaker Pelosi arrived in Singapore for a two-day visit, during which they will meet with President Halima and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong . The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore also announced that Pelosi will attend the Chamber of Commerce activities and deliver a speech on the afternoon of August 1.
A press release published by the US Congress on July 31 showed that Pelosi and five members of Congress who accompanied him will go to Singapore, Malaysia , South Korea and Japan to hold a "high-level meeting." Pelosi said the trip was intended to "reaffirm the United States' firm and unshakable commitment to allies and friends in the region."
Taiwan was not mentioned in the itinerary. US media Politico reported that the US military is making security arrangements for Pelosi's possible trip to Taiwan. A US Department of Defense official said that "the US military will strengthen its deployment and activities in the Indo-Pacific region, including fighter jets, warships, reconnaissance and other military systems" to provide "rich protection" for Pelosi's flights.
Interestingly, on July 29 local time, the US Air Force announced that due to ejection seat failure, "most of the F-35 joint attack fighters were temporarily grounded"; and on July 27, the US Navy also grounded F/A-18B/C/D, F/A-18E/F, E/A-18G and other fighters for the same reason, covering almost all carrier-based main models.
At the same time, according to CCTV News on July 31, a brigade of the Naval Aviation Corps of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army held training at midnight recently, and several fighter jets took off from an airport in eastern Zhejiang in sequence. According to reports, this second half of the night training aims at the future battlefield and improves the pilot's full-time combat capabilities.
Source: Comprehensive