‘Unsafe and unprofessional’: Australian Navy helicopter involved in near miss with Chinese fighter jet

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‘Unsafe and unprofessional’: Australian Navy chopper progressive successful adjacent miss with Chinese combatant jet

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A Chinese pitchy combatant dropped flares successful beforehand of an Australian Navy chopper successful planetary waters, successful an incidental Defence Minister Richard Marles has condemned arsenic unprofessional and unacceptable.

The near-catastrophic incidental occurred astatine astir 7.30pm (AEST) connected Saturday during a regular cognition successful the Yellow Sea disconnected South Korea.

A Navy Seahawk operating disconnected HMAS Hobart was intercepted by a Chinese J10 Air Force jet.

“The PLA Air Force level dropped flares astir 300 metres successful beforehand of the Seahawk chopper astir 60 metres supra it, requiring the chopper to instrumentality evasive enactment successful bid to not beryllium deed by those flares,” Marles told Nine News.

Defence sources person told Nine News lone the speedy reflexes of the Australian aviator averted catastrophe – the Seahawk usually operates with a unit of 4 to six. No-one aboard the chopper was hurt.

Marles condemned the incidental and said Beijing had been formally notified of Australia’s concerns.

HMAS Hobart was taking portion successful Operation Argos, a United Nations ngo to forestall North Korea smuggle sanctioned goods crossed the precocious seas.

“This was an incidental which was some unsafe and unprofessional,” Marles told Nine News.

“Now Australians are engaging successful important enactment enforcing UN Security Council sanctions and successful doing that work, we’re operating connected the precocious seas successful accordance with planetary instrumentality successful accordance with the UN Convention connected the Law of the Sea.

“And we expect that erstwhile we person interactions with different militaries, including with the Chinese subject that those interactions are professional, and safe. This incidental was wholly unacceptable.

“We person expressed our concerns to the Chinese authorities formally successful narration to this incident. HMAS Hobart continues successful its enactment successful enforcing those UN Security Council sanctions.

“When you look astatine the velocity astatine which combatant planes move, astatine which helicopters move, the absorption clip present is measured successful a mates of seconds. And the consequences of the flare really making interaction with the chopper could person been profoundly significant, would person enactment lives successful danger.”

Navy divers were injured past November aft they were subjected to sonar pulses from a Chinese warship during an cognition connected planetary waters connected HMAS Toowoomba.