A Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of an American B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea, nearly causing an accident, the U.S. military said, underscoring the potential for a mishap as both countries vie for influence in the region.
In the night intercept, the Shenyang J-11 twin-engine fighter closed on the U.S. Air Force plane at an “uncontrolled excessive speed, flying below, in front of, and within 10 feet of the B-52, putting both aircraft in danger of a collision,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement released late Thursday.
“We are concerned this pilot was unaware of how close he came to causing a collision,” the military said.
This kind of shit happens all the time with patrol aircraft and bombers, we fly next to their waters, they intercept and make sure we aren’t doing anything sketchy, then we move on.
It’s the biggest game of “I’m not touching you” in the world and it’s something that happens regularly. If we shot down every MiG that intercepted us we’d be on WW:VII by now.