China has released video footage showing People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jets monitoring foreign warplanes over one of its South China Sea outposts, Woody Island.
The video, which was aired by state-owned broadcasting company China Central Television (CCTV) on January 24, 2023, shows two PLA J-11 Flanker fighter jets, each carrying four air-to-air missiles, departing from Woody Island to monitor foreign warplanes that had reportedly entered the area.
The video also shows that the “emergency mission” was carried out on January 22, 2023.
“The number of air incidents usually sees a sharp increase during the holidays,” PLA pilot Zhang Lei, of the Southern Theatre Command, said in the video.
“That means more tasks of tracking, surveillance, and patrols, and more frequent take-offs,” Zhang added.
The incident follows another piece of footage released by the US-Indo Pacific command on December 30, 2022, showing a PLA J-11 fighter pilot performing an unsafe maneuver while intercepting a US Air Force RC-135 aircraft.
