Go ahead, punk.
Would you say that we would allow small aircraft to get close to one of our carriers in waters like this? After the cole, I'd think that we'd be hot to trot when anything got close.
We'd "escort" it. With a 20mm about 20ft off its tail.
Go ahead, punk.
Well, you'd be wrong...
We're not going to go lighting up all of our radars and launching million dollar missiles at a photo-recon drone. It's not like our presence there is a big secret, anyway.
I'd venture to guess that the carrier knew of the drone's presence, didn't deem it a threat because they would have been able to tell if it was armed, and since it was not flying AT the ship, they let it ride. Same with the Chinese sub. All hell would have broken loose if the sub had fired on the carrier, but it didn't, and they weren't expected to do so. Chinese subs are not exactly stealthy, so it wasn't like the carrier didn't know it was coming.
A boat on the ocean is a different story. If a boat was hurtling toward any US ship, at this point in time, and didn't halt when ordered to do so, it would be reduced to an oil slick in a matter of seconds.
It was probably quite small, like 4 ft. wing span, or even less. Note that it is steadily overtaken by the carrier doing what? 30 knots?