Navy P-8 Poseidon. Yahoo/Reuters
The United States is furious after a Chinese fighter plane harassed a U.S. spy plane. Yahoo/Reuters. The fighter came within yards of the P-8 Poseidon and preformed aerobatic maneuvers like barrel rolls. The incident took place in international waters but near a secret Chinese submarine base on Hainan Island. A similar incident in 2001 ended up with the fighter jet being destroyed and the spy plane being damaged in a mid-air collision. The incident occurs amid high tensions in the region but also during a period of slightly better relations with China.
My Comment:
I'm guessing that pilot was having the time of his life. Nothing more fun for a fighter pilot then upstaging a international rival and that's what happened here. I'm not saying that the Chinese aren't playing a very dangerous game here. Nobody wants a repeat of the 2001 incident. But that pilot was probably pretty happy he got to do what he did. Fighter pilots are pretty much always daredevils, regardless of what country they serve.
These kind of bloodless skirmishes happen all the time. I've posted about an incident with the Russians we had recently. It's nothing new and it's a way for countries to saber rattle without too much risk. Unfortunately, the risk isn't zero. Sooner or later one of these hot shot fighter pilots will push himself to hard and end up hitting one of these spy planes. That most likely wouldn't start a war or anything, but it would be a needless tragedy and could increase tensions.
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