A Chinese fighter jet’s aggressive maneuvers endangered the crew of an Australian reconnaissance plane as it patrolled in the vicinity of the South China Sea, Australia’s Defense Ministry claimed Sunday.
The Chinese military has released a video that appears to show a 2022 incident in which a Chinese fighter intercepted an Australian surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.
The Chinese J-16 drew alongside the Australian P-8 while it was on a routine surveillance mission in international airspace last month before releasing flares and chaff that entered at least one of the Australian aircraft’s engines, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
Military planes usually release chaff – typically tiny strips of aluminum or zinc – as a deliberate countermeasure to confuse missiles, but can also use it to sabotage pursuing aircraft.
In a statement, Australia’s Defense Ministry described the encounter as “a dangerous maneuver which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew.”
“The J-16 aircraft flew very close to the side of the P-8 … in flying close to the side, it released flares,” Marles told Australia’s 9News in an televised interview.
“The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8, settling in front of the P-8 at a very close distance.
“At that moment it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminum, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft. Quite obviously, this is very dangerous,” Marles said.
When ingested, chaff can damage a jet engine’s blades and in extreme instances can even shut it down, said Peter Layton, a former Australian Air Force officer who is now a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.
While the P-8 can operate on only one of its two engines, the alleged incident would have forced it to return to base, effectively ending its patrol, Layton said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had raised the issue with Beijing.
“This was not safe, what occurred, and we’ve made appropriate representations to the Chinese government expressing our concern,” Albanese said.
The Australian aircraft was flying “in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters, and airspace,” he said.
In a statement Tuesday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei accused Australia of “approaching Chinese airspace” close to the Paracel Islands, a disputed archipelago claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan in the northwestern part of the South China Sea.
“The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command therefore deployed naval and air forces to identify, verify and issue warnings to dispel the Australian warplane,” said Tan, adding the Chinese military “responded with professional, safe, reasonable and legal measures.”
“We sternly warn Australia to immediately stop similarly dangerous and provocative acts, and strictly control its naval and air force missions; otherwise, it will have to bear all serious consequences from its actions,” said Tan.
China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea, and has built up tiny reefs and sandbars far from its coastline into man-made artificial islands, heavily fortified with missiles, runways and weapons systems – prompting outcry from other governments.
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