Chinese bombers recently simulated an attack on a US Navy aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, the US military said Friday, confirming earlier reporting from the Financial Times.
As the Navy's Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group sailed into the South China Sea this past Saturday, the Chinese military sent eight H-6K bombers, four J-16 fighter jets, and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft flying past Taiwan and into the waterway.
Tracking data indicates the US carrier strike group entered the South China Sea by way of the Bashi Channel as the Chinese fighters flew through Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
The next day, an unidentified mainland military analyst told China's state-affiliated Global Times that the Chinese move may have been a training exercise intended to "boost the PLA's combat capability against US aircraft carriers," as the bombers could practice launching a saturation attack against the US ships.
Another analyst told the paper that the flights were "likely routine operations" that had nothing to do with the US vessels nearby.
FA/PR
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