A Royal Australian Navy helicopter pilot was forced to take evasive action after a Chinese fighter jet detonated a flare near his aircraft’s path while flying in international waters near South Korea.
Canberra has described the actions of a Chinese Air Force J-10 aircraft as “unsafe and unprofessional” following an incident in the Yellow Sea over the weekend.
An MH-60R Seahawk launched from the air combat destroyer HMAS on Saturday. hobart It was intercepted by the People’s Liberation Army and Air Force (PLA-AF), which was participating in a United Nations mission to enforce sanctions against North Korea.
“A People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft fired flares along the flight path of an Australian Defense Force (ADF) helicopter,” the Australian Department of Defense said in a statement Monday night. report.
“This was a dangerous maneuver that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel.
File/Air Combat Destroyer HMAS Hobart during maritime training during Tasman Shield Exercise 2023. (LSIS Susan Mossop/RAN)
“While there were no injuries to ADF personnel or damage to the MH-60R helicopter, the safety and health of ADF personnel remains our top priority,” the ministry added.
The incident comes a day after it emerged that Australia’s naval chief had recently been at loggerheads with China’s naval chief over a separate incident in November last year in which a diver was injured in a sonar attack, also in international waters.
At that time, Australia condemned the Chinese destroyer CNS Ningbo An Australian Navy diver was injured by a sonar pulse in Japanese waters.
Australia says China ignored safety warnings to stay away from Australian frigate HMAS toowoomba In an action that mirrors similar events involving the militaries of both countries in 2022.
A Chinese fighter jet challenged an Australian reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea last month, flying nearby before firing a bundle of flares and chaff that entered at least one of the target’s engines before returning to base. https://t.co/MsL2hB1ECe
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 5, 2022
China maintains that the encounter occurred outside Japan’s territorial waters and that the Chinese warships did not cause any harm.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Australia this year for the first time in a decade, as relations between the two countries have improved from an unprecedented slump in recent years.
