Posted on 07/08/2002 7:51:05 PM PDT by HAL9000
HONGKONG - Electronic warfare erupted recently when an unidentified US aircraft carrier, whose communications signals were interrupted by the Chinese military, retaliated by paralysing the 'enemy's' transmissions, reports said yesterday.
Seen as the most severe military clash between the two countries in the past two years, the incident was also the second time that the US had crippled the Chinese military's communication capabilities in recent years.
A report in the Taiwanese news portal ETtoday.com said the incident occurred during a routine military exercise by the US Navy's 7th Fleet off north-west Okinawa in Japan.
A drill involving a jet fighter belonging to the carrier as well as another US EP-3 reconnaissance plane over the East China Sea was interrupted by electronic signals transmitted from a nearby Chinese warship, the report said.
The US fighter plane retaliated by activating its anti-interference mechanism, leading to a brief electronic warfare of sorts between the two armed forces.
Using very narrow frequency widths, the US fighter was said to have succeeded in jamming the electronic warfare equipment on board the Chinese vessel as well as bring communication at the Peoples' Liberation Army naval and army bases in the north of Fujian province to a standstill.
Although media reports did not mention the precise date of the clash, the official website of the 7th Fleet indicated that one of its aircraft carriers - the Kitty Hawk - held its latest routine exercise in early May this year.
There was no mention of the incident on the website.
According to Hongkong's Apple Daily, this is the second time in recent years that a clash of this nature has taken place.
The first took place in July 1995 during a controversial visit to the US by former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.
Displeased about the visit, China flexed its muscles by staging a large-scale military drill at its coastal regions near the Taiwan Strait.
The Clinton administration then sent out four jet fighters to the Chinese coast to suss out Beijing's real intentions, but their aerial communication was interrupted by signals transmitted by Chinese planes alerted to their presence.
The US fighters retaliated by using advanced equipment to counter the signals and succeeded in blocking them.
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