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A Chinese Su-35 fighter aircraft has released flares in close proximity of a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft during an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” over the South China Sea.
The Australian government has expressed its concerns to the Chinese government following the latest altercation with People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft on 19 October this year.
The RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was operating within international law while conducting a maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea at the time.
The flares release is considered to be an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre that posed a risk to the aircraft and its personnel. No injuries were sustained by Australian Defence Force personnel nor was damage caused to the RAAF P-8A.
“The safety and wellbeing of our ADF personnel continues to be our utmost priority,” according to a statement from Defence.
“Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a safe and professional manner.
“For decades, the ADF has undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace. All maritime claims must be consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”
US defence expert Erik Prince, appearing on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast published on 17 June, has previously spoken out about the ability to prevent or interfere with these types of unlawful but common incidents.
Prince, a former US Navy SEAL soldier and founder of private military company Blackwater, has significant ties to the US industrial and political base as a vocal advocate for privatised military operations and deregulation.
“The amount of air incursions where they fly Chinese PLA air force aircraft into Taiwanese airspace … That’s my frustration with INDOPACOM (US Indo-Pacific Command) or the Taiwanese leadership,” he said.
“Be innovative, plack off an IED (improvised explosive device) in front of that Chinese squadron of aircraft, not shoot it down, but there’s a way you could build effectively an airborne IED and put a cloud of grit up in front of those engines so that every one of those Chinese fighters has to be overhauled and replaced by the time they make it home.
“You can really up the cost of their nonsense if you’re innovative.”
