The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) on Thursday revealed that a Chinese fighter pilot performed a highly unsafe interception maneuver against a U.S. Air Force RC-135 over the South China Sea on December 21.
The Chinese jet came within 20 feet of the RC-135’s nose during the maneuver, forcing the American crew to take evasive action.
The RC-135 is a large four-engine jet that can be configured for a variety of support and reconnaissance missions.
According to USINDOPACOM, an RC-135 was “lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace” when it was approached by a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-11 fighter.
The Shenyang J-11 is a twin-engine, single-seat air superiority fighter derived from the Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker” design. China began producing J-11s in the late 1990s to compete with Western planes like the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
“The PLAN pilot flew an unsafe maneuver by flying in front of and within 20 feet of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the RC-135 to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision,” USINDOPACOM said in a statement on Thursday.
“The U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law. We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” the statement said.
The USINDOPACOM statement was accompanied by an unclassified video clip showing part of the midair encounter. The clip does not include the close encounter or the RC-135’s evasive maneuvers, but it does show the Chinese jet is armed with a full complement of air-to-air missiles.
A U.S. military spokesman told Reuters on Thursday that the Chinese plane actually came within ten feet of the RC-135’s wing during its dangerous maneuver. Defense officials told a press briefing that it was “unlikely” the Chinese pilot could have maintained safe visual contact and separation during such a maneuver from the RC-135.
“We have seen an alarming increase in the number of unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by PLA aircraft and vessel, so this latest incident reflects a concerning trend of unsafe and dangerous intercept practices by the PLA that are of grave concern to the United States,” a USINDOPACOM spokesperson said in an email to the New York Times on Thursday.
Another spokesperson said the U.S. military did not make a public statement about the encounter for eight days because “disclosure of this type takes time to verify details, obtain and declassify imagery and make proper notifications to other government agencies.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin dismissed U.S. complaints about the unsafe PLAN maneuver during a Friday press conference.
“Let me point out that for a long time, the U.S. has frequently deployed aircraft and vessels for close-in reconnaissance on China, which poses a serious danger to China’s national security. The U.S.’s provocative and dangerous moves are the root cause of maritime security issues,” Wang complained.
China’s increasingly aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific region included sending its Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group close to Guam for the first time this week.
The Liaoning is China’s first carrier, an ancient Russian design originally intended to serve as a test and training platform, but these days China sends the Liaoning and its destroyer escorts to intimidate and annoy neighbors like Taiwan and Japan. The Japanese complained about the Liaoning’s “intolerable” presence in waters claimed by Tokyo in May.
According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the Liaoning conducted hundreds of aircraft launches and landings over the past week and has now approached to within 400 miles of Guam, where the United States has important military bases.
China’s state-run Global Times on Thursday waved aside Japan’s concerns and trumpeted the Liaoning’s cruise to Guam as proof “the Chinese carrier is ready to defend the country against potential U.S. attacks from there, including military interference attempts over the Taiwan question.”
The Liaoning is far too small and old to be as much of a strategic factor as the Global Times advertised, but the Chinese propaganda sheet seemed notably surprised to see the Chinese carrier group coming so close to Guam. The Global Times scrambled to find some Chinese analysts who could make sense of the maneuver, and quoted one who said it was probably “interrelated with the drills around the island of Taiwan.”