[War Zone] Earlier today the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence was executing a freedom of navigation drill near Fiery Cross Reef, where China has built a 10,000-foot-long runway along with maritime and other military facilities. During the destroyer’s approach to the island, a pair of Chinese J-11 fighters, an indigenous variant of the Su-27 Flanker, along with a Y-8 surveillance aircraft, were scrambled from the island outpost. It is not clear at this time if the Y-8, which has been adapted for many missions, was a maritime patrol, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C), electronic intelligence collection, electronic warfare or a command and control variant.The United States has been executing these maneuvers around the islands since last October. The tactic is meant to exercise the right of innocent passage under international maritime law and to challenge China’s blanket claims to the resource rich South China Sea as well as the validity of their man-made islands outposts. These missions are also intended to set a precedent that will hopefully keep China from denying access to the critical waterways and aerial routes on and above the disputed body of water. Currently, half dozen countries claim portions of the South China Sea.
Champ meeting with the NSC soon? Appears we're only a trigger pull away from full-blown conflict in the Pacific.