The Pentagon has released 15 videos of “coercive and risky” behavior by Chinese pilots against American aircraft.
The footage shows Chinese aircraft harassing US assets during legal flights in international airspace by firing flares, ‘flashing their weapons’ and flying up to six meters away.
The maneuvers are among 180 cases of such behavior that have occurred since the fall of 2021, more incidents than in the previous two decades.
They are also part of what US officials consider a “centralized and coordinated campaign” to challenge US operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
A shocking video from July 12 shows a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jet deploying eight flares just 300 meters from a US plane over the East China Sea.
The Pentagon has released 15 videos from the past 12 months showing Chinese planes harassing American pilots
Another shot on July 7 shows a Chinese plane hovering over the South China Sea just six meters away from an American aircraft.
Similarly, a video taken on February 15 shows a PLA plane just 75 feet away. The plane is so close that the American pilot can clearly film the Chinese pilot on the other side.
One of the most egregious incidents occurred on June 22 and involved a PLA “flashing its weapons” at a US pilot before berating him over the radio.
In a description, the Pentagon said the Chinese aircraft “approached a distance of just 40 feet before repeatedly flying above and below the U.S. plane and flashing its weapons.”
“After the U.S. operator radioed the PLA fighter jet, the PLA pilot responded with explicit language, including an expletive.”
And in May, American pilots saw the moment they were shunted from their cockpit after a Chinese jet zoomed past the nose of their plane.
The clip shows the PLA jet approaching at speed in the distance before zooming past the front of the US plane.
The maneuvers force the American pilots to fly through the Chinese plane’s wake turbulence, causing the cockpit to shake and shake.
One video from June 22 shows a PLA fighter jet just 40 feet away from a US aircraft flashing its weapons. When challenged, the Chinese pilot reportedly cursed at the American pilots over the radio
Chinese planes have been filmed flying within six meters of US fighter jets in what has been branded ‘risky and coercive’ behavior
The incidents are classified as ‘coercive and risky’, which is lower than ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ in the rating scale, which is used when behavior endangers lives.
But the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, said some of the 180 cases were “unsafe and unprofessional”.
He said: ‘What we have seen since 2021 is a series of actions that have brought aircraft much closer together than is comfortable for those in the cockpit.’
He highlighted a 2001 accident in which a Chinese fighter collided with a U.S. Navy spy plane, forcing the U.S. plane to make an emergency landing in China.
The crash killed the Chinese pilot and temporarily detained the American crew.
“People’s lives are in danger,” Aquilino said. ‘One accident is too many. We experienced it in 2001.’
Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific, described how PLA jets have flown dangerously close to US assets at “hundreds of miles per hour.” He called the incidents a “significant concern.”
Commenting on the figures, he said: “That’s nearly 200 instances in which PLA operators have performed reckless maneuvers, cleared chaff or fired flares, or gotten too fast or too close to U.S. aircraft – all as part of an effort to limit the ability of to hinder the American armed forces. operate safely.”
In a May encounter, American pilots jolted through their cockpit after a PLA asset buzzed past their noses, forcing them to fly through wake turbulence
PLA jets flying close to US aircraft at ‘hundreds of miles per hour’, according to Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific Ely Ratner
He added that the number rises to about 300 if interceptions against other Allied aircraft are also taken into account.
Ratner said, “The bottom line is that this type of operational behavior can cause accidents, and dangerous accidents can lead to unintended conflicts.”
It comes amid rising tensions between the US and China, which were evident as early as June when Chinese officials rejected a meeting between defense chief Li Shangfu and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Singapore.
And airspace relations have been particularly tense since the US took down a suspected Chinese spy apparatus in February.
The Chinese government insisted the plane was a weather balloon that had been blown off course and refuted any suggestion that they were spying.
The videos and images were released ahead of the annual Chinese Military Power Report that the Pentagon submits to Congress.
The report is expected to detail rising levels of Chinese intimidation against US assets.