...
Pentagon officials, meanwhile, dismissed a Washington Post report that the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk may be ordered to a position in the South China Sea where it could launch fighter jets to protect the reconnaissance flights.
The carrier, which was headed for Guam, "hasn't been taken out of its normal routine", said Navy spokesman Lieutenant Doug Spencer.
Senior US defence officials see little reason to use carrier-based fighter jets, which would risk further inflaming tensions when the two countries are not at war, a Pentagon official said.
...
