Chinese Submarine Stalks U.S. Carrier

Just days after the USS Ronald Reagan was stalked by a Chinese People’s Liberation Army attack submarine, the Reagan was tagged for a flyby involving a pair of Russian Tu-142 bombers that flew within a mile of the carrier at an altitude of 500 feet. U.S. warplanes were immediately scrambled to ward them off.

Chinese military and government officials heavily criticized the Lassen voyage, claiming the United States violated Chinese sovereign territory. The Obama administration, however, insisted the warship remained well within international waters.

Disclosure of the Chinese submarine encounter comes as Adm. Harry Harris is visiting China for the first time as the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, the WFB reported.

Defense officials declined to comment on the record about the submarine encounter.

U.S. nuclear-powered carriers are a sign of power projection by Washington.

China has been developing countermeasures and area denial technologies and weaponry aimed at keeping U.S. military assets at bay in any future dispute between Beijing and any of its neighbors, especially Taiwan – which it claims as a “breakaway province” – and Japan, its historic nemesis. Both Taiwan and Japan are U.S. allies with which Washington has security agreements.

Reports from defense officials claim that the Chinese attack submarine’s detection set off alarms on the Reagan, though no mention was made of aircrafts being launched to locate the sub. The Reagan and four other warships were on the way to a joint naval exercise with South Korean naval forces at the time of the incident.

Source: nationalsecurity.news