PLA Navy news, pics and videos

Bltizo said:

Not sure about that.
When I saw the news I was more surprised that this kind of aggressive intercept wasn't done earlier.


Given the way Sino-US relations have been recently a move like this should've been expected really.

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Jura said:

it would've been in the great tradition of this Forum to assume it had been the US warship about to ram the Chinese LOL

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Strategic Analyst said:

Due to navigation rules, and the photos, the Decatur was aft of 112.5 degrees from the bow of the PLAN ship, and thus was in the Stern sector of the PLAN vessel, it did not have the right of way and had to give way. The Decatur captain needs a refresher course back at Annapolis.

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Strategic Analyst said:

In terms of the reckless use of the word "unprofessional" by US media, it was unprofessional and a violation of navigation rules, to come close to the stern of a ship and prevent it from maneuvering, risking a collision, thus the Stern sector rule of 112.5 degrees from the bow of the leading ship, as the stern has to swing out in any maneuver.

To illustrate the rule, what was the PLAN ship supposed to do? Turn away and swing its stern into the US ship, or turn across the bow of the US ship? This why we have rules of the road on the sea. Only the US ship had the ability to maneuver to avoid a collision, the fact that it didn't and endangered international relations, should see the captain of the US ship removed from duty.

PLAN had the right of way. The US ship should have reduced speed, or turned earlier. I would have removed that US captain and demoted him to a shore office job.

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B.I.B. said:

Its a pity we are only seeing the last few pictures of the incident so we don't know what went on in the preceding minutes. What i find rather strange is the lack of a video recording which were the norm in recent past incidences.

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Jura said:

Yesterday at 7:48 PM
and now noticed the tweet

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China firmly opposes a US warship's entry into the waters around China's islands and reefs in the

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, Defense Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, in response to a US guided missile destroyer arbitrarily entering waters in the South China Sea on Sept 30

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China ratcheted up its response to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operation over the weekend, sending a Luyang-class destroyer on a near-collision-course with USS Decatur (DDG-73), but the reasoning behind the move is likely more nuanced than defending territory.


No Chinese captain of a vessel would risk this type of confrontation – coming within 45 yards of Decatur – without being told to do so. And there is little chance this event occurred without the approval of China’s President Xi Jinping, China expert Bonnie Glaser told USNI News. Glaser is the senior advisor for Asia and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The first thing I’d say is, I’m a little baffled why China reacts strongly in some cases and not others,” Glaser said.

In this particular case, she noted, the

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involved in the freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) are small and not among the significant bases China has built in the South China Sea. Plus, these features are considered high-tide elevations, which the U.S. does not dispute– meaning Decatur would have conducted what’s called an innocent passage. The Navy has not commented on the incident beyond a limited statement released Monday, and did not address what the ship was doing as it conducted the mission and whether it was an innocent passage or not.

“All they did was sail through what (China) would consider territorial waters, and yet (the U.S. Navy) got the strongest reaction ever,” Glaser said.

The U.S. Navy routinely conducts such FONOPS in the South China Sea. Afterward, Chinese government officials typically issue statements expressing varying degrees of outrage over the FONOP.

On Tuesday, Wu Qian, a spokesperson with China’s Ministry of National Defense, released a statement saying, “the U.S. side has sent warships into waters near China’s islands and reefs in South China Sea time and again, which has posed a grave threat to China’s sovereignty and security, severely damaged the relations between the two militaries, and significantly undermined regional peace and stability. The Chinese military resolutely opposes such actions.”

Wu’s statement described the incident as one where a Luyang-class destroyer carried “identification and verification procedures in accordance with law, and warned the U.S. vessel off.” It did not mention how close the two ships came.

The Navy said on Monday that “the (People’s Republic of China) PRC destroyer conducted a series of increasingly aggressive maneuvers accompanied by warnings for Decatur to depart the area. The PRC destroyer approached within 45 yards of Decatur’s bow, after which Decatur maneuvered to prevent a collision.”

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show just how close the two ships came to colliding.

“Rules of engagement in China are usually set by the central military commission, so Xi Jinping would have been involved in approving this rule of engagement. And to be clear, this is a change in the ROE. Before the rules were, you shadow the U.S. ship and you don’t get too close. If they communicate with you, you respond,” Glaser said. “It seems like those ROE were thrown out the window.”

But why the change, especially after this FONOP – which had Decatur passing within 12 nautical miles of a relatively unremarkable reef, that is considered to meet the definition of having territorial waters?

The reason for China’s more aggressive stance likely has more to do with unhappiness about other recent interactions with the U.S., Glaser said. There are tensions surrounding trade tariffs and a military arms deal between the U.S. and Taiwan.

“The only way I can understand this is the Chinese decided to use this opportunity to send a signal to the Trump Administration, and this is to me evidence that the tensions in one area are spilling into another area,” Glaser said.

The Chinese ship did not approach until Decatur was ending its FONOP and heading out of the 12-nautical mile zone around the reef, Glaser said. Decatur maneuvered away from the Chinese ship and headed out to sea.

But, if the Chinese ship approached Decatur at the start of the FONOP, Glaser said the entire incident could have played out very differently. Decatur’s captain would have faced a set of issues, such considering the optics of scrapping the FONOP and looking as if the U.S. backed down from the Chinese ship. At the same time, Glaser said Xi Jinping doesn’t want to be seen as weak either.

“He must be seen as defending China’s interests and China’s sovereignty, and that’s what they were trying to convey with this FONOP,” Glaser said. “But the risk of collision is really serious. It’s incredible how close those ships got. It’s dangerous stuff.”

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US Navy proposing major show of force to warn China

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

(CNN)The US Navy's Pacific Fleet has drawn up a classified proposal to carry out a global show of force as a warning to China and to demonstrate the US is prepared to deter and counter their military actions, according to several US defense officials.

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Hyperwarp said:

Uh oh....

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Hyperwarp said:

Uh oh....

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manqiangrexue said:

Uh, no they cannot legally. Within 12 miles is US territory. That's a very hostile act. I mean... they

Global show of force? LOL In other words, they were embarrassed by the Chinese destroyer's bravery and now they'll throw an expensive face-saving hissy fit in other parts of the world to make themselves feel better. if China could be deterred or intimidated by these shenanigans it would never have been considered a rival to the US in the first place!

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Red Moon said:

Sounds like they've been planning this for at least several weeks. Perhaps they created this photo-op as "justification".

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