via The Hill.
The United States has issued a formal warning to China after personnel at the Chinese military base in Djibouti used lasers to interfere with U.S. military aircraft, giving two pilots minor injuries, according to the Pentagon.Story here.
Top Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White told reporters Thursday that the U.S. is confident the Chinese are behind the “very serious incidents,” which have increased in the past few weeks.
“There have been two minor injuries. This activity poses a true threat to our airmen. We have formally demarched the Chinese government. And we’ve requested that the Chinese investigate these incidents,” White said during a Pentagon briefing.
The U.S. government, meanwhile, has warned airmen to be cautious when flying in certain areas in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, due to the recent incidents.
“During one incident, there were two minor eye injuries of aircrew flying in a C-130 that resulted from exposure to military-grade laser beams, which were reported to have originated from the nearby Chinese base,” according to a notice reported by CNN.
Lasers blinding pilots..dazzling them...is serious shit. If I recall correctly that is the basis for some anti-air systems. To blind the optics systems of attack aircraft, even their missiles and definitely the pilots. The Pentagon called them military grade too. That's telling. I'm not sure about the scope of the injuries either. I wonder if those guys are still on flight duty or if they had to rotate over to a ground job. Even worse for them I'm wondering if they're gonna see halo's or spots or whatever for the rest of their lives.
The main takeaway (and yeah we touched on this when the news broke yesterday) is this. China needs to be curb stomped so that its baked into their national DNA that the USA will fuck them up when they push too hard.
Pick a spot and hit them now. I'm not calling for full scale warfare but we need to give them an INTENSE pushback while we can before they really get froggy.
Next story.
via Asia Times.
Beijing has installed cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles on man-made islands throughout the South China Sea, according to a report on Wednesday, a move one US security analyst described as “a clear offensive threat.”Story here.
CNBC first broke the story, citing sources with direct knowledge of US intelligence reports who said the missile platforms were deployed on the outposts within the past 30 days.
The news comes less than a month after The Wall Street Journal reported that “military jamming equipment” had been installed on the Spratly Islands, one of the locations also identified in the report this week.
“This should be seen as China crossing an important threshold. Missile platforms present a clear offensive threat,” Gregory Poling, a fellow at the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies told CNBC. “[The missile deployment] is a pretty clear threat to the other claimants and furthers China’s goal of establishing complete control over the water and airspace of the South China Sea,” added Poling, who is director of CSIS’s Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
On this one we have to fight against regional desires to placate the Chinese. Cross a threshold? They crossed it by building the islands. Those freedom of navigation events are seen for what they are. Bluster without meaning. Like two guys braying at each other instead of just getting to it.
Action is needed but the Japanese, S. Koreans, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and others are too accommodating to assist.
Our defense officials are so focused on offensive warfare that they don't realize the reality.
There is no A2/AD to penetrate.
We're already in their backyard.
They're trying to PUSH US OUT! But we're there and we can be a pain in the ass.
Want a credible show of force?
Assemble a multi-wing strike package to include Air Force, Navy, Allied forces that are willing, subs, carriers, and even attack helicopters rigged with anti-ship missiles and do a time on target flyby of an island.
Do a couple of flash alerts putting the entire region on "go status" for 24 hours.
Make them think we've lost our minds.
Once we do that a couple of times China will understand that we're more than willing to punch them in the mouth and make them bleed.
Until we do something China WILL CONTINUE to act badly. They are an aggressive force and WILL NOT rise peacefully.
War is coming and we MUST get ready.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.