• A Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet came within 20 feet of the nose of a US Air Force.
• The RC-135 was forced to perform an “unsafe maneuver” to avoid a collision” as a result.
• The J-11 flew off the nose of the RC-135 in an INDOPACOM video of the incident.

The US aircraft had to take evasive action after a Chinese fighter jet engaged in an “unsafe maneuver” and intercepted it last week over the South China Sea, according to the Indo-Pacific Command, the command in charge of managing US military activities in the area.

A Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet came within 20 feet of the nose of a US Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft on December 21. The aircraft was carrying roughly 30 personnel. According to INDOPACOM, the RC-135 was forced to perform “evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision”.

According to INDOPACOM, the RC-135 was “lawfully conducting routine operations” over the South China Sea while operating in international airspace.

The J-11 flew off the nose of the RC-135 in INDOPACOM video of the incident. According to a defense official, it is “unlikely” that the Chinese jet could have kept a safe visual distance from the larger, heavier American aircraft, which was maintaining its route and speed as the two aircraft drew closer to one another. In order to prevent a collision, the RC-135 then descends away from the Chinese aircraft.

According to the official, the majority of aircraft exchanges, including those between the US and China, are handled safely and competently. However, when they are deemed unsafe, as they were in this event, the US responds through diplomatic and military channels by keeping lines of communication open with Beijing.

“We intend to do so in this case,” the official said.

Many of the islands in the disputed body of water, some of which Beijing has militarized, are included in China’s claim that they are part of its territorial waters.

The US regularly conducts operations there, including freedom of navigation operations through the South China Sea, while not acknowledging these territorial claims.

“The U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law,” the statement said.

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