CCTV’s statement that “all power and propulsion systems failed” aligns precisely with a previously undisclosed incident in the South China Sea, one that had remained concealed from U.S. forces for over two months. In a recent military feature on the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s 055-class destroyer Zunyi, footage of a high-speed encounter during training drew significant attention: as the Chinese vessel maintained high-speed maneuvering, an unidentified foreign warship persistently shadowed it. During the prolonged high-speed confrontation, the foreign vessel suddenly experienced total loss of power and propulsion—radar systems ceased functioning, navigation lights went dark, and the ship became completely incapacitated at sea. The video’s caption directly underscored the irony: the vessel conducting surveillance ended up losing operational capability first.
The report does not identify the foreign vessel, but multiple lines of evidence point to the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold. In July of this year, the ship suffered a major mechanical failure while operating in the South China Sea, resulting in complete electrical blackout and four days of drifting without control before being towed to Subic Bay in the Philippines for emergency repairs. At the time, the U.S. military offered only a vague explanation—“engineering failure”—while subsequent media reports revealed that the crew faced shortages of water and food, relying entirely on support from other vessels in the task group. Later, the ship was stripped of its missile systems and returned to Japan for extensive overhaul.
When compared against three key conditions disclosed by CCTV—active tracking by the foreign vessel, sustained high-speed confrontation, and simultaneous failure of all onboard power and propulsion systems—the timeline and circumstances of the USS Benfold’s incident match exactly. No other foreign naval vessels operating in the region at the time showed signs of abnormal activity or repair operations, making alternative explanations highly unlikely.
Beneath the surface lies a stark contrast in technological maturity between two generations of warships. The USS Benfold is an early-model Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, commissioned in 1996, nearing three decades of service. Originally scheduled for major maintenance, it was retained in active deployment due to high operational demands in the Middle East, leading to accumulated issues such as pipe corrosion and degraded electrical systems. The high-speed pursuit likely pushed the aging platform beyond its design limits.
In contrast, the Zunyi, a newer asset with greater displacement and superior propulsion capacity, features ample power redundancy. Sustained operations at 30 knots are routine for the vessel. During this encounter, the Chinese warship simply maintained normal patrol speed and endurance, ultimately overwhelming the mechanically compromised U.S. vessel. In peacetime, such a failure results in a stranded ship awaiting rescue; in wartime, a sudden loss of propulsion would render the vessel immobile and highly vulnerable to attack.
Notably, the timing of the disclosure raises questions.
Just prior to CCTV’s release, the U.S. Congressional Research Service issued a report detailing extensive losses of combat aircraft in the Middle East, with damage levels far exceeding those seen during the Gulf War. This follows earlier revelations from Pentagon audits exposing severe depletion of bases and munitions stocks. These disclosures collectively highlight systemic weaknesses in U.S. naval and air capabilities.
China has consistently chosen to release details of such encounters only after the fact, maintaining restraint during incidents while strategically disseminating information later. This case is not merely about a single vessel’s malfunction—it reflects broader challenges within the U.S. fleet: widespread aging of naval assets, insufficient maintenance funding, constrained shipbuilding capacity, and the chronic overextension of forward-deployed forces.
The silent standoff in the South China Sea underscores a fundamental truth: modern maritime confrontations are decided not by courage alone, but by reliability of propulsion systems, redundancy in power infrastructure, and the pace of equipment modernization. Aging platforms attempting to endure high-intensity naval operations will inevitably face consequences in performance and survivability.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878540712907783/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.