Recently, a US RC-135 aircraft deliberately approached for reconnaissance on the coast of South China and the Xisha Islands in Hainan. The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army dispatched J-11BSH fighter jets to track and monitor it throughout the process.
The U.S. military criticized the situation, claiming that a Chinese fighter jet was "dangerously" close to a U.S. military aircraft in the South China Sea. This was an unsafe interception operation. The United States said that China should use international airspace in a safe and abide by international law.
China's Southern Military Region specially released a video for this purpose. This is also the first time that China has released a high-definition video of an -related incident. The video shows that after seeing the Chinese J-11BSH fighter , the US military plane squeezed to the left and made a dangerous contact. The close movement seriously affected the flight safety of Chinese military aircraft. The nose of the American RC-135 electronic reconnaissance aircraft was less than 20 feet (6 meters) away from the Chinese J-11 BSH fighter jet and less than 10 feet (3 meters) from the wing of the Chinese J-11 fighter jet.
This reminds us of the April 1 collision between China and the United States in the South China Sea 21 years ago. On April 1, 2001, a US EP-3 military electronic reconnaissance aircraft conducted reconnaissance over the southeastern waters of Hainan Island, China. According to the US media, the EP-3 aircraft sneaked into the vicinity of Hainan, China to detect two submarines of the Chinese Navy that were conducting routine exercises in the waters near Hainan. These are two new types of submarines. One is a "Kilo-class" conventionally powered submarine, and the other is a Type 093 nuclear attack submarine. The latter has always attracted the attention of the US military.
After discovering the American reconnaissance aircraft , China also dispatched two of China's most advanced J-8 fighter jets at the time to intercept and drive away. However, in the face of China's second-generation fighter jets, the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft turned a blind eye. Less than 100 meters away from EP-3, Wang Wei and wingman pilot Zhao Yu always maintained a flying attitude. EP-3 made a dangerous approach to the Chinese fighter aircraft , which eventually led to the collision with accident. The US aircraft that caused the accident entered Chinese airspace without China's permission and landed at the Lingshui Military Airport on Hainan Island, China.
This is China's moment of humiliation, but China is no longer the China it was 20 years ago. The Chinese J-11BSH fighter intercepted live ammunition, and the J-11BSH fighter carried 霹雳8 short-range combat missiles and 霹雳12 medium-range air-to-air missiles under its wings.
In the face of close combat by the reconnaissance aircraft, the Chinese J-11BSH fighter responded quickly, intercepted and successfully forced the US reconnaissance aircraft back. The reason why the US military was so frightened this time and even missed a target is because the Chinese J-11BSH fighter jets were not afraid of close combat by the United States and successfully forced the US reconnaissance aircraft back.
We have become accustomed to the U.S. being beaten down. The United States often dispatches reconnaissance planes to conduct close surveillance of our country. When our country intercepts U.S. aircraft in self-defense, the United States accuses us of being unprofessional and unsafe, and demonstrates "shameless" to the fullest.
So many people ask, can it be shot down? Before the J-16 fighter entered service, the J-11BS and J-11BSH fighters were regarded by many people as the Chinese version of the "Strike Eagle". It is certainly a piece of cake to use the combat effectiveness of the J-11 to deal with "big and slow" targets like the RC-135.
China will not fire the first shot. Once China attacks with live ammunition first, this is China's behavior of starting a war. China will only counterattack in self-defense. It can be said that although shooting down is one of the options during interception, this situation should be very rare, because the opponent is an unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, and the general operation is to drive away.
For a long time, the United States has been taking frequent provocative actions in the South China Sea under the banner of so-called "freedom of navigation" and is actively practicing an operational concept called "expeditionary forward base operations."This concept envisages the establishment of several "forward bases" controlled by the US military within the opponent's maritime defense zone, and deploying F-35B stealth fighter aircraft , air defense missiles, special forces and other mobile forces at these "forward bases" to cooperate with the US military's sea and air forces to further approach and attack the opponent's forward positions from multiple directions. In order to achieve this goal in the South China Sea, the US military needs to master as much information as possible about the surrounding islands and reefs, such as their area, nearby hydrological conditions, high and low tide conditions, etc., to prepare for the potential future "seizing the islands and reefs and establishing an advance base."
So over the years, the United States has been strengthening its surveillance of the South China Sea. Almost all of the military aircraft sent by the US military to the South China Sea for close reconnaissance come from the first island chain Okinawa Kadena base , including E-8C battlefield surveillance aircraft, EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft, MQ-4C Son of Poseidon drones, P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft , RC-135S Eye Cobra Ball missile observation aircraft, RC-135V Joint Rivet electronic reconnaissance aircraft.
In the face of the increasingly rampant reconnaissance activities of the United States, we have now completed the land-based operations on the islands and reefs in the South China Sea, and combined with the capabilities of large-scale sea and air coverage and patrolling. (Of course, there are also satellite detection capabilities) We have completely grasped the movements of US reconnaissance ships and reconnaissance aircraft.
In addition, the Chinese Air Force fleet has achieved normalized combat readiness patrols in the East China Sea and South China Sea. The pilots are supported by the wartime joint combat system. H-6K and fighter aircraft , reconnaissance aircraft, aerial tankers, etc. carry out combat patrol missions. They organize operations mainly in the form of aerial reconnaissance, counter-air combat and island reef cruising, thereby achieving the purpose of normalized cruising in the South China Sea.
The result of this is that China can achieve normalized seamless surveillance of the East China Sea, South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and other airspace and normalized fighter aircraft duty capabilities. As long as U.S. fighters appear in the South China Sea, China can sense it immediately, monitor U.S. fighters, fly closely with them, and even force them to retreat from the South China Sea.
Our army has formulated a policy of replacing training with combat, so that it can better respond to any sudden changes. Therefore, the frequent reconnaissance by the US military, including aircraft and ships, has greatly improved the effectiveness of our army's training. If actual combat does occur, our army will respond calmly.
