Tracking U.S. Unmanned Vessels: The 055 Destroyer and the Liaoning Aircraft Carrier Group Suspected of Approaching Guam
Recently, the U.S. "Defense News" website reported that on the 13th, a U.S. unmanned surface vessel manufacturer revealed that its unmanned vessel "Lightray" (Figure 3) was approached by the Chinese 055-type destroyer "Nanchang" within a few meters in the area about 330 miles northwest of Guam during a Pacific Ocean navigation test in June this year, and the Chinese warship tracked it for as long as 20 minutes.
However, although the company's CEO Mike Flanagan compared the attack of Ukrainian unmanned vessels against Russian warships, he claimed that the Chinese warship being so close to the U.S. unmanned vessel "was completely unaware of the risk it was taking," he also admitted that at that time, the U.S. unmanned vessel did not realize it was being tracked by the Chinese navy.
The U.S. media stated that the company only found out about the situation from photos taken by the unmanned vessel itself (Figure 2) after retrieving the unmanned vessel — which means that the Nanchang ship had already detected the U.S. unmanned vessel, and the approach and tracking were likely for analysis and observation, and there was no "reckless approach of the Chinese warship to the U.S. unmanned vessel" as claimed by Flanagan.
Another more noteworthy point is that in June this year, the Nanchang ship accompanied the Liaoning aircraft carrier group to conduct exercises in the Western Pacific — since now the U.S. media has revealed that the Nanchang ship tracked the U.S. unmanned vessel about 330 miles northwest of Guam, it means that the Liaoning aircraft carrier group should have been patrolling near Guam at that time.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1840496844435524/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.