Was this doctrine in place during the first months GWB’s first term when PRC pilot Wang Wei made three close passes in his J-8 jet fighter to the prop driven P3 Orion, resulting in a collision on the third pass?
The J-8 broke in two and the impact forced the P3 to land on Hainan Island. It was held captive while PRC PLA examined and stripped the sensitive and highly classified spy gear on board.
GWB, as CINC, showed a masterful display of the “patient inertion doctrine” until the PRC had gathered all they could and having milked the press magnanimously released the unharmed 23 airmen without pressing charges. The deft CINC then sent a letter of condolence to the widow of Air Bandit Wang Wei, who had achieved his objective albeit fatally inept for the task at hand.
That the doctrine you’re thinking of?
Of course, The Won would provide a truly world class performance of groveling before the insane mullah regime while whispering, “inshallah” to their shoes.
The differences between an unmanned drone or a single surveillance aircraft with ~20 or so crew aboard and a multi-trillion dollar, nuclear-powered national asset with over 6000 crew are pretty near incomprehensible from a magnitude standpoint.
The US has made it pretty clear over the years that our carriers are sacrosanct. Touch one of them and we will hit you like the fist of an angry god.
And I don’t mean that in the Lazamataz way.
VQ-1's P-3C was not a Capital Ship carrying nuclear weapons.
This is a non sequitor.
Having flown P-3s in the So China Sea, I would have turned East, declared an emergency and kept it airborne as long as possible, then ditched it in the water as the engines began to fail. Hated the Red Chinese communists!!
JC