A US Navy surveillance aircraft that was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island on Sunday was collecting information on a Russian-made Sovremenny-class destroyer, an intelligence source told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The propeller-driven EP-3 plane had attempted to fly away after colliding with one of two Chinese jet fighters, the intelligence source said. The collision caused the fighter to crash into the sea.
The source said the EP-3's attempt to fly away was aborted after the second jet fighter opened fire with its machine gun as a warning.
The source -- who had monitored the incident by radar and also listened to cockpit exchanges -- said he believed the EP-3 was forced to land by the Chinese fighter plane at an airport on Hainan.
US officials, on the other hand, have said the collision with the Chinese fighter had caused sufficient damage to the US plane for it to issue a "Mayday" signal and make an emergency landing.
Sunday was not the first time that a US surveillance plane such as the EP-3 has tried to collect information on the most advanced fighting ship in the Chinese navy, which poses a major threat to US aircraft carriers with its lethal Sunburn anti-ship missiles.
The EP-3 is packed with supersensitive electronic equipment capable of intercepting and analyzing radio and other electronic communications, and is used to track and collect information on enemy ships.
According to the intelligence source, Taiwan's military radar detected the EP-3 flying in circles in the vicinity of the Sovremenny at a low altitude and at a speed of around 250km per hour.
Two Chinese jet fighters taking off from their base in Guangdong Province arrived to intercept and drive away the visitor -- but the US Navy plane did not at first show any intention of leaving.
The two jets flew in formation side by side with the EP-3 for some time before one of the planes found it could not fly as slow as the US plane, which is powered by four turboprop engines
The Chinese jet tried to slow down by making a turn, the source said. Its attempt to do so caused the fighter to bump into the US aircraft and then crash into the sea.
The pilot, as well as the Chinese aircraft, remains missing.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said Sunday's incident may affect arms sales talks between Taiwan and US.
"If the US takes a hard line on the matter, it will have a favorable effect upon the arms talks between Taiwan and the US," said Vice Admiral Kao Yang (
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