H/T Tony. Data from flight tracking sites showed that five U.S. Air Force KC-135 aerial refueling tankers flew to the South China Sea on the night of Nov. 5.
The five aircraft: 58-0093, 60-0341, 63-8022, 63-8021, and 57-1486 left Kadean air base, Japan at around 1100 UTC. One of the aircraft, 60-0341, with the call sign PEARL12 was later spotted north-west of Manila, Philippines at 1351 UTC.
Meanwhile, flight data of a CMV-22B that is assigned to USS Carl Vinson’s Carrier Air Wing 2, showed that Carrier Strike Group 1 is just west of Manila.
Flying ahead of the tankers was a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft. It was unlikely that five tankers were needed to support a single P-8A.
News report and photos taken at Kaden air base on Nov. 5 showed that 16 F/A-18s arrived at the base during the day time.
2021.11.5 嘉手納基地
そしてタロンもゾロゾロ〜(O_O) pic.twitter.com/KymzRxp3A4— とんきち (@B4tonkichi) November 5, 2021
So was there a large-scale air exercise that took place on the night of Nov. 5 in the South China Sea?