 |
| USS Ronald Reagan (File Photo) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
A Chinese attack sub purportedly used the USS Ronald Reagan for ‘targeting practice’ near the Sea of Japan.
An unidentified Chinese attack submarine simulated a cruise missile attack on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan on October 24, Bill Gertz over at the Washington Free Beacon reveals.
Details of the incident as well the type of submarine involved remain unknown. Originals reports from early November about the encounter merely stated that a Chinese submarine tailed the USS Ronald Reagan (See: “Closest Encounter Since 2006: Chinese Submarine Tailed US Aircraft Carrier”).
Pentagon officials call it the closest encounter between a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship and an American aircraft carrier since 2006.
The U.S. aircraft carrier was on its way from Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, sailing around the southern end of Japan to the Sea of Japan.
The attack simulation, if confirmed, would be in violation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, an agreement reached at the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium, between 21 countries including China and the United States.
Read the full story at The Diplomat