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Visual investigations
A New York Times analysis of satellite imagery and air traffic control communications found that U.S. military planes began operating out of the Central American country in mid-October.
Nov. 6, 2025, 6:05 p.m. ET
At least three U.S. military aircraft, including a heavily armed attack plane, have begun flying missions out of El Salvador’s main international airport in an expansion of the extraordinary U.S. troop buildup in the Caribbean, according to an analysis of satellite images, air traffic control communications and flight tracking data.
The attack plane, an AC-130J Ghostrider, is designed to destroy targets on the ground or at sea using missiles or barrages from its cannons and machine guns. It is operated by the Air Force Special Operations Command, a unit that carries out sensitive missions for the military. The New York Times also identified a Navy reconnaissance plane and a rarely seen, unmarked Air Force jet at the airport.
The influx of forces into the region started in late August, just before the Trump administration began launching what it said were counternarcotics missions while also planning for possible military action in Venezuela. The buildup has included about 10,000 U.S. troops along with drones, bombers and nearly a dozen Navy warships, soon to be bolstered by the arrival of the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford. So far, the Department of Defense has reported 16 lethal strikes on boats it says were involved in drug smuggling.
The deployment to El Salvador is likely to be the first time a foreign country has hosted U.S. planes that may be involved in military strikes in the region. And it further reflects the warm ties between the Trump administration and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, who has aided President Trump’s immigration strategy by jailing deportees from the United States at a notorious maximum-security prison.
“In this sphere, they seem so well aligned,” said John Walsh, director for drug policy and the Andes at the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights organization.
Neither Mr. Bukele’s office nor El Salvador’s Embassy in the United States responded to a request for comment about the planes’ deployment. Two U.S. military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed to The Times that the presence of these aircraft is related to the increase in counternarcotics missions in the region.
The Times first identified the U.S. planes through satellite images of Cooperative Security Location Comalapa, a small American military outpost at El Salvador’s main airport.
The outpost, which was established in 2000 to support counternarcotics missions, hosted Navy surveillance aircraft until 2022. Since then, satellite imagery shows, the base has been used little, with only occasional Department of Homeland Security aircraft visible there.
Along with the Ghostrider gunship, there is also a Navy P-8A reconnaissance plane, which is equipped with cameras that can collect intelligence from thousands of feet in the air. The P-8A is also capable of launching torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.
A third military aircraft, the unmarked C-40 Clipper, has been at the base since mid-October. Little is known about its purpose, but flight-tracking data has shown it occasionally flying with surveillance aircraft. It is rarely spotted in public and its deployment to El Salvador, especially alongside an attack plane, is highly unusual.
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It’s unclear if the aircraft are participating in airstrikes, but their deployment to the outpost coincided with an increase in attacks on targets in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which borders El Salvador. The Trump administration has provided little legal justification for the strikes, and Democrats in Congress and experts on the laws of war have called them unlawful.
Adm. James Stavridis, a former head of Southern Command, which includes El Salvador in its area of operations, said the outpost was used in the past for disaster relief, and humanitarian and counternarcotics operations.
“The base is very, very important for soft power,” he said, “but is clearly being used for hard power today.”
A Times analysis of publicly available radio messages between military aircraft and air traffic controllers found that the P-8A reconnaissance aircraft had flown at least six missions out of El Salvador. The attack aircraft and the Air Force jet have each flown at least one mission, the radio communications show.
The military planes typically broadcast their locations and directions of flight before cutting off contact with air traffic controllers somewhere over the Pacific.
In one message, the pilot of the P-8A reconnaissance plane hinted at its destination, saying the plane was “proceeding operational due regard in international airspace at this time.”
“Due regard” is a phrase that military pilots use when they are embarking on a mission and will stop communicating with air traffic control.
Eric Schmitt and Annie Correal contributed reporting.
Riley Mellen is a reporter on The Times’s Visual Investigations team, which combines traditional reporting with advanced digital forensics.
