XPost: aus.politics, or.politics, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: starve.china.to.death@economics.com   
      
   Chinese fighter jets are targeting Australian aircraft able to detect   
   submarines with risky air maneuvers.   
      
   China is making efforts to strengthen its submarine fleet and access deep   
   waters.   
      
   Chinese aircraft interfering with Australian aircraft is reminiscent of   
   Soviet Cold War-era harassment.   
      
   Chinese fighter jets keep targeting Australian aircraft capable of finding   
   and defeating submarines with hazardous maneuvers, suggesting that subs   
   may be what the Chinese jets are guarding so fiercely.   
      
   "Concealing its submarines and discretely accessing deep waters are seen   
   as ongoing challenges for China," Justin Burke, a senior policy advisor at   
   the National Security College, wrote for the Sydney-based Lowy Institute's   
   publication The Interpreter.   
      
   "It is therefore worth contemplating that Australia's aircraft are being   
   targeted because of their crucial role in submarine detection and the   
   undersea balance of power," he said.   
      
   Earlier this month, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter   
   jet released flares in the path of a Royal Australian Navy MH-60R   
   helicopter over the Yellow Sea, compelling the Australian military to   
   release a statement calling the risky maneuver "unsafe and   
   unprofessional."   
      
   Two years earlier, a Chinese fighter jet dropped chaff in front of a P-8   
   Poseidon aircraft operating above the South China Sea. At least some of   
   the metallic debris entered the plane's engine. That same year, a Chinese   
   warship was accused of using lasers to interfere with another P-8.   
      
   Burke says this may be a way for China to give warning and protect its   
   undersea capabilities that have been in the works, noting that "while a   
   detectable submarine is virtually useless, a stealthy one is priceless."   
      
   MH-60R helicopters, like the P-8, are anti-submarine warfare platforms.   
   They are able to detect submarines using detachable sonar and sonobuoy   
   mechanisms.   
      
   "Even if these aircraft are performing routine flights, their known   
   capabilities may simply lead to the assumption by the Chinese military   
   that they are 'spying,'" Burke said.   
      
   China's undersea presence is not insignificant, as submarines are able to   
   act as a survivable nuclear strike option, preserving China's second-   
   strike capabilities. China has been working to expand its fleet to 65   
   submarines by 2025 and 80 submarines by 2035, according to the Pentagon.   
      
   These incidents remind Burke of harassment cases from Soviet ships during   
   the Cold War in which a Soviet vessel would purposefully bump into a US   
   ship as a means to disturb US sea operations and also make a "diplomatic   
   point."   
      
   https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-unsafe-intercept-australian-   
   aircraft-submarines-expert-2024-5   
      
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