http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22648
Was Chinese ship preparing nuke test?
Surveillance of destroyer's activity possibly sparked EP-3 incident
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By Jon Dougherty
� 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
The April 1 incident between a U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance plane and a pair
of aggressive Chinese fighters may have occurred because a Chinese warship
was preparing to test a nuclear-capable anti-ship missile, sources have told
WorldNetDaily.
According to intelligence and military sources, one of a pair of new
Russian-built Sovremenny class destroyers China bought in 1999 was preparing
to conduct a sea test of a nuclear device, "probably one that could be
carried on an anti-ship missile," one source, who requested anonymity, said.
One of two Chinese Russian-built Sovremenny class destroyers.
The report, which was confirmed by other well-placed military sources, said
the EP-3 surveillance flight may have been in the area to monitor the test.
The presence of the U.S. plane is said to have caused substantial unease
among Chinese military officials preparing the test, which may explain the
aggressiveness of two Chinese F-8 fighters sent up to shadow the American
plane.
"We were reading their tactical mail, so they decided to bash the postman,"
one source said.
One Chinese fighter clipped the EP-3 in midair while making a high-speed
pass. The collision caused enough damage to the Navy plane that it was
forced to declare a "Mayday" and land. The Chinese fighter crashed; Beijing
has said its pilot was killed.
WND, quoting foreign sources, reported April 4 that the remaining Chinese
fighter fired its weapons at the EP-3 following the collision, preventing it
from fleeing the area and forcing it to land at China's Hainan Island
airbase, where the plane remains, though a U.S. inspection team arrived
there yesterday to examine it.
The aircraft's 24-member crew was held by Chinese authorities for 11 days.
They were released April 12 after the U.S. ambassador to China presented a
carefully worded letter to Beijing.
The Pentagon has not confirmed that the Navy plane was fired on, but
officials have acknowledged that they were aware of those reports.
Richard Fisher, a China weapons analyst with The Jamestown Foundation, told
WND that the SS-N-22 "Sunburn" Moskit anti-ship missiles included in the
Sovremenny destroyer deal with Russia are capable of carrying nuclear
payloads.
While not able to comment directly on the report that China may have been
testing a nuclear device on or about April 1, Fisher said Russia initially
designed the Sunburns to carry nuclear warheads.
"When they entered service, the Moskit was assumed to be nuclear-armed, or
at least some of them were," Fisher said. "It is reported that the Moskit
was designed to carry a small nuclear warhead."
Yakhont anti-ship missile in flight.
Fisher said he did not know whether a new Russian-built missile, the
Yakhont, which is smaller, was nuclear-capable, but said it was possible it
could carry "a smaller nuclear warhead."
The Yakhont is also a supersonic anti-ship weapon. Russia, which began using
it in the mid-1990s, says it is incapable of being destroyed by current
shipboard anti-missile defenses, including Aegis systems aboard U.S.
warships.
Military officials claim it is impervious to guidance jamming and is a "fire
and forget" weapon.
Reports have said that China is interested in buying up to four more
Sovremenny-class destroyers to augment the existing warships in its fleet
and that they may be equipped with the Yakhont.
"The Sovremennys give the Chinese navy a punch it has been lacking," noted
Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor of Jane's Defense Weekly.
WND reported April 6 that part of the EP-3's mission could have been to
monitor Chinese submarines also in the area. Many of China's most modern
submarines operate out of bases on Hainan Island.
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