Chinese jet said to carry out 'aggressive' maneuver in front of US military plane

A Chinese J-16 jet fighter flew directly in front of an American surveillance plane flying in international airspace over the South China Sea last Friday, forcing the U.S. Air Force plane to fly through the fighter's wake turbulence and causing the U.S. aircraft to shake. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command labeled the Chinese intercept as "Unprofessional" and "An unnecessarily aggressive maneuver" and released a video taken from inside the American plane's cockpit that captured the incident. "A People's Republic of China J-16 fighter pilot performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver during the intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, May 26, 2023," said a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Here is video of the incident where the J-16 flew in front of the RC-135 at a distance of 400 feet, the US plane then flew through its wake - you can see the plane bounce. Luis martinez May 30, 2023 "The PRC pilot flew directly in front of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the U.S. aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence," said the statement. The last such incident occurred on Dec. 21, 2022, when a PLA J-11 fighter pilot "Performed an unsafe maneuver during an intercept of a U.S. Air force RC-135," according to INDO-PACOM. The official noted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other U.S. officials have publicly voiced concern over what they say is an increase in unsafe incidents by Chinese military assets that could have the potential to create an unsafe incident or miscalculation. The senior defense official said the timing of the U.S. military's release of the video was not tied to that meeting but was instead "Subject to the U.S. military declassification process and U.S. diplomatic communication process."