US accuses China's fighter jets of coercive and risky behaviour towards its military aircraft
The Pentagon has released more than a dozen previously classified videos and photos of Chinese fighter jets performing "coercive and risky" manoeuvres – sometimes coming within just 20ft of US jets in the Indo-Pacific region.
Defense Department officials say the surge in incidents since early 2022 is what the Pentagon considers part of a "centralised and concerted campaign" by China to change US operations in the area.
The Pentagon says the Chinese military has ramped up such behaviour against US surveillance aircraft in the Pacific over the last two years, conducting more than 180 "risky" intercepts, which increases to nearly 300 incidents when including aerial intercepts near aircraft flown by allies.
Speaking at the Pentagon, Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said: "Since the fall of 2021, we have seen more than 180 such incidents: More in the past two years than in the decade before that.
"That's nearly 200 cases where PLA operators have performed reckless manoeuvres, or discharged chaff, or shot off flares, or approached too rapidly or too close to US aircraft."
On the release of footage from recent incidents, she said: "These images and videos speak for themselves.
"US planes are operating safely, responsibly and in accordance with international law.
"Indeed, the skill and professionalism of American service members should not be the only thing standing between PLA fighter pilots and a dangerous, even fatal, accident."
Admiral John Aquilino, the head of US Indo-Pacific command, said militaries around the world conducted routine intercepts every day but the vast majority of those interactions were safe.
Although he added that the Chinese behaviour is concerning, saying: "What we've seen since 2021 is a set of actions that have brought airplanes much closer together than are comfortable for those in the cockpit".
"In other words, flying off my wing at 15ft for 45 minutes has too much of a chance to lead to an accident."
In one of the incidents, a PLA fighter jet speeds alongside a US aircraft before cutting in front of it, at just 100 yards, forcing it to fly through the PLA plane's wake turbulence.
Another of the released videos shows a PLA fighter jet deploying eight flares at a distance of 900ft from a US plane.
Join Our Newsletter
