China: Chinese and US forces were engaged in reconnaissance and electronic warfare before and after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, according to military sources and defense analysts.
But, according to sources close to the Chinese military, all this was not successful. According to state broadcaster CCTV, the US Air Force transport plane that was carrying Pelosi and her delegation from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei on August 2 was under "full tracking and surveillance" by the Chinese military.
According to PLA Major General Meng Jiangqing of the PLA National Defense University, the tracking was done for "preventive". However, a source claimed that the People's Liberation Army's tracking efforts were unsuccessful, despite using jets and Type 055 destroyers.
The source claimed that efforts by the PLA to track Pelosi's aircraft, which included the deployment of warships and electronic warfare aircraft such as the J-16D, were unsuccessful.
The US Aircraft Strike Group sent by the Pentagon to escort him jammed nearly all of the PLA's electronic warfare equipment, making it impossible for him to function properly.
Pelosi's plane took an unusually curved route during the flight, flying southeast toward the Indonesian part of Borneo before turning north to pass over the eastern Philippines.
Independent airpower analyst He Yuan Ming said it was expected that the Chinese ships did not notice the flight.
Even though the Type 055 [destroyer] radar is thought to be 500 km (310 mi) long, it would have a very short practical range, he said.
It should be little surprise that the PLA (Navy) was unable to find the cruiser Pelosi's aircraft the size of the operating area and youth relative to the Type 055, both in terms of its hardware capabilities and software crew.
Following Pelosi's visit, the PLA surrounded Taiwan in a series of unprecedented war games.
The US sent at least seven reconnaissance and early warning aircraft near Taiwan on the second day of the exercise, according to the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative.
In addition to the RC-135V and RC-135S for missile surveillance, the deployment also included three P-8A maritime anti-submarine aircraft, three E-3G spy aircraft, one U-2S high altitude monitor aircraft and six KC-135s. refueling aircraft.
Despite both sides' silence regarding the ships' participation in the war game, Andrei Chang, editor-in-chief of Canada-based Kwana Asian Defense, claimed that it was highly likely that the US Navy, thanks to its technology, knew that the PLA had attacked Taiwan. Submarines were deployed in the waters.
Chang said it was likely the US had a covert role in Japan and Taiwan.
Taiwanese officials claim the PLA fired 11 ballistic missiles into the waters in the north, south and east of the island during the exercise.
Five of these missiles, according to Japan, landed in its exclusive economic zone, which China does not recognize.
Chang said while Beijing declined to say how many ballistic missiles it had fired, Taipei and Tokyo's announcement could be interpreted as a warning to the mainland that they are not going to be involved in the war as part of their electronic warfare strategies. as the PLA can track and locate missiles.
He claimed that the Leshan radar station in Taiwan's Hsinchu County may have tracked the missiles.
The system, which has been in use since 2013, can track projectiles in great detail even in motion from a distance of 2,000 km, which covers the entire South China Sea and mainland China. It can detect missiles launched from a distance of 5,000 km.
According to Chang, the US assisted in setting up a long-range early warning radar system on Leshan, and some US experts are still stationed there.
According to the first source, electronic warfare between the US military and the PLA dates back to the Taiwan Straits crisis of 1995–1996, when the US military jammed almost all of the PLA's military radar systems while conducting missile tests.
"This is the main reason why China has developed its own BeiDou satellite navigation system," according to the source, "and both sides were eager to assess each other's strengths in the region."
"This time, both the US and China wanted to assess each other's electronic warfare capabilities. The PLA is particularly concerned with ensuring that its technology is capable of dealing with a potential Taiwan emergency.
PLA conducts a drill to clear mines in the South China Sea
