There’s been a rise in Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pilots intercepting U.S. military aircraft in international airspace over the past two years as part of a pressure campaign against lawful flight operations in the region, according to American defense officials.
On Tuesday, Pentagon officials released a collection of declassified images and videos of 15 recent cases in what they said underscored “an increasing trend of coercive and risky operational behavior by the PLA since the fall of 2021.”
In one incident, a PLA fighter jet crossed in front of a U.S. aircraft at a distance of about 100 yards, forcing the aircraft to fly through the PLA aircraft’s wake turbulence, the DOD said. In another, the PLA fighter sped toward a U.S. aircraft and crossed under its nose, causing the American pilot to lose visual contact before the fighter approached the U.S. aircraft at a distance of about 10 feet below it. In August, a PLA fighter flying closely to an aircraft wing performed a barrel roll around and below a U.S. aircraft, forcing its pilot to initiate defense procedures to avoid a collision.
“The declassified images and videos were captured during lawful U.S. air operations, during which PLA operators engaged in coercive and risky activities, including reckless maneuvers, close approaches at high speeds in the air, releasing objects and projectiles like flares, and other dangerous behavior,” the DOD said in a statement Tuesday.
The assessment comes as the Pentagon prepares to release a report to Congress detailing military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China. According to the report’s findings, “the goal of the PLA’s behavior is to pressure the United States and other nations to reduce or cease lawful operations near areas where Beijing claims territorial sovereignty.”
The harassment isn’t limited to international airspace but is instead a PLA tactic “throughout the region, throughout domains, and throughout geographies,” Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon.
Chinese ships are also harassing U.S. and allied warships in the East China Sea, as well as on land against Indian partners, Ratner 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,” Ratner said. “That’s nearly 200 cases where PLA operators have performed reckless maneuvers, or discharged chaff, or shot off flares, or approached too rapidly or too close to U.S. aircraft.”
Earlier this week, a top Canadian military official accused Chinese fighter jets of “dangerous and reckless” behavior after they intercepted a Canadian military surveillance aircraft taking part in a United Nations operation over international waters off the coast of China.
According to Canada defense minister Bill Blair, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Lockheed CP-140 Aurora and a Chinese jet at one point came within 16 feet of each other during the incident.
