Western Command in Palawan confirmed that
a Chinese ship had aimed its gun control director—a computer that calculates
firing solutions—at a Philippine Navy anti-submarine corvette BRP Conrado Yap
(PS39) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in February.
WESCOM issued the statement after the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that Philippines had sent China two
diplomatic protests, one of which includes the incident concerning BRP Conrado
Yap.
Vice Admiral Rene Medina, commander
of WesCom and of Joint Task Force West (JTFW)
 |
| BRP Conrado Yap (PS- 39), a former South Korean Navy ship, is the Philippine Navy's newest and most powerful ship. (photo credit to Philstar) |
On February 17, the Conrado Yap detected a radar contact of a gray-colored vessel while sailing to Rizal Reef Detachment. Gray hulls usually denote military ships.
Medina said PS39 issued a radio
challenge to the gray ship, which he said responded that "the Chinese
government has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea, its islands
and its adjacent waters."
He said the BRP Conrado Yap again
challenged the vessel, which then "repeated its response and maintained
her course and speed."
"From there, PS39 was able to
visually observe that the gun control director, an equipment that gives
information in obtaining a fire control solution, of said PLAN vessel was
directed towards PS39," Medina said, citing the incident report.
Medina explains that the gun control
director can be used to designate and track targets and prepare main guns to
fire.
"The PS39 has no electronic
countermeasures and cannot readily say the intent but...that was our
assessment. Why would move you the gun director towards the target? So there
was really an intent," Medina said.
"While PS39 does not have the
Electronic Support Measures (ESM) to confirm that PLAN gun control director was
directed towards her, visual identification confirms this hostile intent,"
he also said.
Such actions of the Chinese navy
vessel is described as hostile and a clear encroachment on the Philippines’
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and its sovereignty.
The PN’s ship continued to challenge the PLAN ship with a
bow number 514 diplomatically and that both vessels continued sailing after the
incident.
"The Western Command, as the AFP's primary unit in
the West Philippine Sea, will continue to perform its duty and will never be
intimidated nor let our guards down in protecting the sovereignty and integrity
of the Philippines and will support any future capability upgrade of our ships
patrolling our Philippine Waters," Vice Admiral Rene Medina added.
What can you say about this?
Share us your thoughts by simply leaving on the
comment section below. For more news updates, feel free to visit our site
often.
Stay
updated with today's relevant news and trends by hitting the LIKE button.
Thanks
for dropping by and reading this post.
Report from Philstar
Disclaimer:
Contributed articles does not reflect the view of THE PH CHRONICLES. This website cannot
guarantee the legitimacy of some of the information contributed to us. You may
do additional research if you find some information doubtful. No part of this article
maybe reproduced without permission from this website.
0 Comments