heywhatsflying

Live military and government aircraft

Military & government now

Military and government aircraft that are broadcasting their position over the US right now, identified by the feed’s military aircraft database, the US DoD block of ICAO addresses, aircraft type and callsign. It is a partial view by design: many military flights do not broadcast at all.

Military-looking aircraft airborne

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— of all airborne aircraftplus — on the ground

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Military types right now

All types
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Military and government aircraft in the air

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Military and government aircraft in the air on the map

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How we spot military aircraft

There is no “military” flag in a standard ADS-B message, so the list combines four public clues. Each aircraft is tagged with the strongest one:

  • Aircraft database. The airplanes.live aircraft database marks known military airframes. This is the strongest signal and catches military aircraft with civil-looking types.
  • ICAO address. The US block of 24-bit addresses runs from A00000 to AFFFFF. Civil N-numbers use A00001 through ADF7C7, and the rest, ADF7C8 to AFFFFF, is set aside for the US Department of Defense. Similar blocks exist for the UK, France and Germany.
  • Aircraft type. Types that only militaries fly, such as the C-17 Globemaster III, KC-135 Stratotanker, C-130J, P-8A Poseidon and T-38 Talon.
  • Callsign. Well-known military callsigns such as REACH (written RCH, Air Mobility Command), PAT (Army priority air transport), SAM (special air missions) and CNV (Navy).

Government aircraft flying civil-registered airframes, such as some federal law-enforcement or Coast Guard contract aircraft, can still be missed, so treat the list as “military and government aircraft we can identify”. It is not a complete census.

Why many military aircraft never appear

Military aircraft can fly with ADS-B Out switched off when operational security requires it. FAA rules allow this for national-defense, homeland-security and law-enforcement missions. Fighters and other tactical aircraft on training sorties rarely broadcast, and some aircraft only show up through Mode S or MLAT. The aircraft you see most often are the big, routine movers: tankers on refueling tracks, airlifters crossing the country, trainers near their bases and maritime patrol aircraft along the coasts. Read more in why military aircraft show or don’t.

A note on responsible watching

Everything here is broadcast in the clear and visible to anyone with a $30 receiver. Even so, a tanker orbit is a training event, not a story. We show positions as they are broadcast and draw no conclusions from them.

Questions

Can you see military aircraft on flight trackers?

Some. Transports, tankers, trainers and patrol aircraft often broadcast ADS-B and appear on unfiltered trackers like airplanes.live. Fighters and sensitive missions usually fly with ADS-B off.

What does the REACH callsign mean?

REACH (transmitted as RCH) is the callsign of US Air Force Air Mobility Command airlift and tanker missions, flown by C-17s, C-5s, KC-135s, KC-46s and others.