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| PLAAF J-11B that buzzed a US Navy P-8A |
Pentagon: Intercept is 'Very Dangerous, Very Unprofessional'
By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS
WASHINGTON — A Chinese high-performance fighter intercepted and buzzed a US Navy P-8A maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft on Tuesday in international air space over the South China Sea, the Pentagon confirmed on Friday.
The interception was “very close, very dangerous ... pretty aggressive and very unprofessional,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters.
The Chinese aircraft, a Shenyang J-11B Flanker B from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, made a number of close passes to the P-8A Poseidon, a military version of the well-known Boeing 737 jetliner.
The interception took place about 135 miles east of Hainan Island, Pentagon officials said, noting that the area in which, per international law, military activities may be conducted “as an exercise of the freedoms of navigation and overflight.”
“On three different occasions, the Chinese J-11 crossed directly under the US aircraft with one pass having only 50-100 feet separation between the two aircraft,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
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