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Chinese J-11 Fighter ‘Attacks’ Canadian CH-148 Chopper With Flares; PLAAF Continues To Harass Western Aircraft

As tensions mount in the Indo-Pacific region, a Chinese PLA aircraft is once again said to have fired military flares in front of a Canadian military helicopter over international waters in the South China Sea.

“The risk to a helicopter in that instance is the flares moving into the rotor blades or the engines, so this was categorized as unsafe, non-standard, and unprofessional,” Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa onboard air officer Maj. Rob Millen said. The Sikorsky Cyclone helicopter was flying off the flight deck of HMCS Ottawa.

The Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is a twin-engine, multi-role shipborne helicopter developed by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation for the Canadian Armed Forces. The flare or chaff is typically released by military planes as a planned countermeasure to confuse missiles, but it can also be used to sabotage an aircraft in flight. The flares could have a blinding effect on the pilot of any plane, which makes the maneuver super risky.

Speaking to CNN from aboard the warship, Millen said Ottawa’s helicopter had two interactions with Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s J-11 fighter aircraft over international seas on October 29, the second of which saw the fighters approach as close as 100 feet from the chopper.

He claimed that although Chinese aircraft had frequently approached fixed-wing planes of Canada and other countries, such an action against a helicopter was unusual.




 | Lockheed Martin
CH-148 Cyclone Helicopter

The first incident occurred in international seas in the northern South China Sea, 34 miles from the Paracel Islands complex, and the second outside a 23-mile radius around the Paracels, over international waters. At the time, the cruiser was sailing some 100 miles, or about 160 kilometers east of the Paracels, in international seas.

According to officers on board the Ottawa warship, the two incidents happened when the Canadian helicopter was looking for a submarine that had been spotted earlier. Millen told the publication that he was piloting the Canadian helicopter earlier in the day when it was caught by Chinese J-11s at close range. It was returning toward Ottawa at 3,000 feet above the lake, flying straight and level and giving no indication that it was hostile.

Millen claimed that during the previous encounter, the Chinese fighters circled his helicopter. “When the intercepting aircraft was closer and closer, at a certain point, it became unsafe,” he said.

According to Millen, his helicopter encountered turbulence after leaving the Chinese planes, endangering the copter. The helicopter can function below 200 feet, but it is “very uncomfortable for fast air fighter jets,” according to Millen, who concluded the encounter by dropping below that altitude.

The air force major from Canada stated that his troops would keep flying over the South China Sea’s international waters because they are trained to deal with incidents like the ones that happened on the day.

The Ottawa has been patrolling the waterway for more than a week now, occasionally collaborating with aircraft and navy vessels from the United States, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand for an international drill known as Noble Caribou. But at the time of the Chinese jet contacts, it was functioning alone.

The recent revelation by the Canadian officials comes even as US and Canadian warships are transiting through the contested Taiwan Strait, their second joint passage in two months. In response to this passage, which China fiercely disapproves of,  Chinese officials noted that PLA troops were keenly watching the transit and were on “high alert.”

The Chinese PLA has been making headlines recently, especially concerning its engagement with the Philippines Coast Guard in the South China Sea in October. A Chinese coast guard ship and one of its militia vessels separately bumped a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat last month.

The engagement between international fighter jets flying over the region and the PLA Air Force aircraft has become commonplace since China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territorial waters. Moreover, it regularly criticizes the presence of Western military assets in the region, calling it “provocative.”

For instance, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters, “We have reiterated many times our firm position on Canadian warplanes conducting reconnaissance near China’s territorial airspace. We hope Canada will refrain from its inappropriate behavior to prevent the situation from becoming more complicated.”

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