AMERICAN air force commanders have scrambled a missile detecting spy plane amid fears North Korea could be preparing a test launch tonight.
The high-tech aircraft could be joining two other US spy planes already in the skies above the hermit state, DailyStar.co.uk has reported.
The Civil and Military Air Twitter feed posted this evening: “Cobra Ball - Ballistic Missile detection platform airborne. No position showing.”
The launch of the aircraft comes just days before Donald Trump is due to visit Seoul as part of a 12-day tour of East Asia East.
And South Korean spies have already reported a flurry of activity around missile research facilities in the North Korean capital, which could mean a launch is imminent.
The South Korean intelligence agency said today: “There is a possibility of a new missile launch given the active movement of vehicles around the missile research institute in Pyongyang.
"The North will constantly push for further nuclear tests going forward, and the miniaturisation and diversification of warheads."
North Korea carried out its last ballistic missile test on September 15.
But it is feared Kim Jong-un’s regime could be planning a test to coincide with Donald Trump’s visit to South Korea next week.
The deployment of the Cobra Ball spy plane comes just days after a powerful hydrogen bomb was reportedly detonated at an test site inside Punggye-ri mountain, destroying part of an underground tunnel network.
Despot Kim has taken to developing and testing many of his nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles underground, out of sight of satillites and spy planes.
But at least 100 North Korean workers are believed to have been killed in further tunnel collapses after they were sent in to clear the rubble.
And another 100 reportedly died after they were ordered in to rescue those trapped in the first accident.
The US Air Force also confirmed two of its bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula today,South Korean news agency Yonhap has reported.
According to the US Air Force website, the RC-135S Cobra Ball is designed to collect visual and electronic data on ballistic targets.
American commanders have just three of the high-tech planes at their disposal and it is kitted out with a sophisticated range of sensors and recording equipment.
The huge aircraft is deployed with at least 10 specialist crew members, including electronic warfare officers.