Deja vu: EP-3E incident resurrects cold war chills

Sea Power, Jun 2001 by Burgess, Richard R

A U.S. inspection team that traveled to China's Hainan Island to assess the damage to the U.S. Navy EP-3E Orion reconnaissance aircraft stranded there has determined that the aircraft probably could be repaired on-site to the extent needed to be safely flown out. The inspection was allowed by the Chinese government after the aircraft's 24 crewmembers were returned to their home base at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., after 11 days of forced detention. The Chinese government later said, though, that the aircraft could be dismantled and shipped out, but not flown out under its own power.

The United States resumed electronic reconnaissance flights off the coast of China on 7 May, according to press reports, with a mission flown by an Air Force RC-135.

The aerial collision on 1 April-which resulted in the loss of a Chinese F-8-II naval fighter and the emergency landing of the EP3E on Hainan Island-is eerily reminiscent of the series of aerial incidents that flared up during the 45-year Cold War between the United States and Communist nations. The incident is believed by both sides to have been an accident with no hostile intent, but the prolonged detention of the U.S. Navy aircraft and crew had threatened to escalate into a diplomatic crisis with serious ramifications for U.S.-Chinese relations, already strained by such issues as the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

The EP-3E-equipped with the Aries II surveillance system-was intercepted by two Chinese F-8-II "Finback" fighters while on patrol over international waters in the South China Sea. One of the Finbacks flew under and then in front of the EP-3E, striking it, apparently by accident. The collision damaged the EP-3's number one propeller as well as a flap and aileron, knocked off its nose radome, and severed a radio aerial, which then wrapped around the vertical stabilizer.

The Finback broke up and its pilot ejected but was not recovered and is assumed to be dead. The EP-3E lost pressurization and rolled 130 degrees while descending approximately 8,000 feet before the flight crew, commanded by Lt. Shane Osborn, was able to regain control. The EP-3E made an emergency landing at Lingshui airfield on Hainan, where its crew was taken into custody by Chinese forces. The Chinese military also took advantage of the opportunity to thoroughly inspect the U.S. Navy aircraft and its highly

classified surveillance systems.

The EP-3E-assigned to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ- 1)-was temporarily on assignment with the squadron's detachment at Naval Air Facility Misawa, Japan, and staged at Naval Air Facility Kadena in Okinawa for the 1 April flight over the South China Sea. The 22 Navy personnel, one Marine, and one Air Force member of the crew were unharmed and were found in good condition by visiting U.S. diplomats-dispatched by retired Adm. Joseph Prueher, U.S. Ambassador to China-when the Chinese on 3 April allowed the first of several contacts with the crew.

On 2 April President George W. Bush had offered U.S. assistance in searching for the missing Chinese pilot; he also called on the Chinese government to release the Navy aircraft and crew, and Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed official regret for the loss of the Chinese pilot. The United States refused to apologize for the incident, however, which it believes-with considerable physical evidence-- was not the fault of the U.S. Navy crew.

The Chinese government did not release the crew, though, until after the U.S. government expressed sorrow for the loss of the Chinese pilot and apologized-not for the collision, but for the EP-3E landing on Hainan without prior clearance. A meeting in China between U.S. and Chinese representatives failed to reach agreement on which aircraft was to blame for the mishap.

The mission of the EP-3E is to collect electronic intelligence, including communications. EP-3s have for more than three decades been routinely conducting electronic reconnaissance along the peripheries of other nations hostile to U.S. interests. The Navy currently has in its inventory 11 EP-3Es converted from P-3Cs. One more P-3C is being modified to an EP-3E configuration to replace one that crashed at Souda Bay, Crete, in September 1997. The Navy plans to modify two more P-3Cs to strengthen its fleet of this much-used aircraft, and hopes later to convert at least two more. The EP-3E fleet has been going through extensive upgrades-the Sensor System Improvement Program and the Joint SIGINT Avionics Modernization.

Of primary concern to U.S. defense officials is the degree to which U.S. surveillance capabilities may have been compromised by Chinese detention of the EP-3E. The crew had only 20 minutes to destroy as much as possible of the aircraft's codes and other classified documents, computer drives, and other electronic equipment.

According to a DOD spokesman, the crew was able to destroy most but not all of the classified material on board the aircraft. The spokesman said that the crew was not prohibited by standing orders to land an EP-3 in China in an emergency. Independent aviation experts have said that ditching the aircraft in the ocean in its damaged condition probably would have been fatal to some or all of the crew.