A Chinese fighter jet got within 10 feet of a US Air Force B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea on October 24, US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Thursday.
A Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of a US Air Force B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea on Tuesday, according to the US military.
The Chinese pilot “flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, demonstrated poor airmanship by closing with uncontrolled excessive speed, flying below, in front of, and within 10 feet of the B-52, putting both aircraft in danger of collision,” US Indo-Pacific Command said in a Thursday statement. “We are concerned this pilot was unaware of how close he came to causing a collision.”
News of the latest Chinese intercept comes as President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when he visits the White House on Friday, CNN reported on Thursday. It is not clear whether the meeting will be a formal discussion or a more informal meet and greet. Wang is also expected to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday and national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday.
The Chinese military is severely lacking in accountability and professionalism. The pilots think this kind of flying projects skill, when really it shows their incompetence.
This is completely not true. It does not show incompetence whatsoever. Quite the opposite actually. Dangerous, reckless, unprofessional, yes. But at those speeds, it takes skill to get that close, and not be pulled into the other plane and crash, when the other plane is not actively participating in the stunt. That's why the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, and every other stunt team in the world practice for 100's of hours on this. It is not easy to do in any case. Bernoulli's principle makes it get more difficult the faster you are moving. That is why a chinese pilot crashed into an E3 years ago, when he tried to pull the same crap.
Exactly. The Chinese pilot who collided with the Navy EP-3 was honored. He was pretty dead at the time but none the less. The Chinese want their pilots to fly like this.
I dread how badly China is craving FAFO. It's going to be such an unnecessary loss of life, and China will end up in ruins--not that it's doing well now.
Charlie: Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?
Maverick: Because I was inverted.
Iceman: [coughs] Bullshit.
Goose: No, he was, man. It was a really great move. He was inverted.
Charlie: You were in a 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28?
Maverick: Yes, ma'am.
Charlie: At what range?
Maverick: About two meters?
Goose: Well, it's actually about one and a half, I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there, must be one and a half.
Maverick: Was a nice picture.
Goose: Thanks.
Charlie: Eh, Lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. I was, you know, giving him the bird.
Goose: You know, the finger
Why not? The Chinese fighter jet got too close. Had a fighter been following that B52 that Chinese fighter wouldn't have been able to get close, because our fighter jet would shoot him down
There are only fighter escorts if there is a specific threat with hostile intent that requires them. Most non-fighter Air Force aircraft don’t fly with escorts routinely.
Most likely the bomber was flying there to establish our right to do. By not being a fighter it helps avoid an engagement. I have no specific knowledge of this incident, but in general we don't want an engagement as that can escalate quicky. We just want to say that we don't recognize the borders they claim.
No, we don't really do that any more. It's not really necessary.
We put the fighters where they need to be when they need to be there. This bomber is just flying its patrol route, they don't need to be protected along their path to the target, they don't need to be anywhere near their targets, they're loaded with cruise missiles and they strike from dozens or hundreds of miles away.
From China's point of view, the US regularly sends planes thousands of miles from its coast to go to harass China. They view it as the equivalent of when an other kid starts waving their hands in your face and saying, "I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you." They feinting back.
Both the freedom of navigation exercise and the response are messages. The US is saying, "We can project force all the way to your front door. If push comes to shove, we can start blowing up your shit."
China is essentially responding with, "You got yours and I got mine. You wanna fuck around and find out?"
That's what it boils down to. It's an extremely angry conversation between superpowers.
For some context, the South China Sea is a giant sea between China, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and a few others. Currently, China is pushing for what it calls the "Nine-Dash Line" policy which would in effect forcibly blockade all other ASEAN nations from trading.
Imagine if Italy claimed the entire Mediterranean Sea including the coastline of other nations, then prevented others from trading under the threat of military invasion. That's basically what China is trying to do here.
There's flying, and the there's flying like a moron. No matter where you are, in your own air space or someone else's, flying like a moron is a terrible idea.
Traveling within 10 feet of another vehicle where the speeds are measured as a percentage of the speed of sound (Mach) is definitely flying like a moron.
This happened in international airspace. Doesn't matter what the body of water is called. The entirety of the gulf of Mexico doesn't belong to Mexico either. Nor does the Indian ocean belong to India.
Also the China Sea was originally named by the Portuguese.
No, no, his logic is sound. The Atlantic Ocean will hereby be renamed the East American Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean will hereby be renamed the West American Ocean. The South China Sea will hereby be renamed the West West American Ocean. The Indian Ocean will hereby be renamed the South West American Ocean.
You checking your China 'this is totally all mine' new map in your notes? The 9 dash line is hand drawn and totally arbitrary, and is basically saying 'this is mine now.'