US shifts South China Sea reconnaissance towards drones and Philippines: think tank

US “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea declined last year, as it relied more on the Philippines and uncrewed drones for reconnaissance flights over the contested waters, a Beijing-based think tank found. The think tank said that as large American vessels such as aircraft carriers and amphibious groups faced growing maintenance and deployment constraints such as the Middle East conflict, Washington had changed the nature of its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet, the..