5 String? Dmp? What's Up With This?

[Kathianne]

Just testing?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_china_incident


US protests 'harassment' by Chinese vessels

BY PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
33 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Chinese ships surrounded and harassed a Navy mapping ship in international waters off China, at one point coming within 25 feet of the American boat and strewing debris in its path, the Defense Department said Monday. The Obama administration said it would continue naval operations in the South China Sea, most of which China considers its territory, and protested to China about what it called reckless behavior that endangered lives.

At one point during the incident Sunday the unarmed USNS Impeccable turned fire hoses on an approaching Chinese ship in self defense, the Pentagon said. At another point a Chinese ship played chicken with the Americans, stopping dead in front of the Impeccable as it tried to sail away, forcing the civilian mariners to slam on the brakes.

"We view these as unprofessional maneuvers" and a violation of international law, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The incident had overtones of spycraft, but the U.S. ship is not, strictly speaking, a spy ship. It maps the ocean floor with sonar, compiling information the Navy can use to steer its own submarines or track those of other nations...

A protest was lodged with the Chinese government by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing over the weekend and was repeated to a Chinese defense attache at a Pentagon meeting Monday.

In Beijing, Chinese officials did not immediately respond to voicemail messages and e-mail regarding the U.S. allegations.

Pentagon officials said the incident followed "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships against the Impeccable on Wednesday and Saturday and against the USNS Victorious surveillance ship on Thursday while it operated in the Yellow Sea.

The Chinese ships included a Chinese Navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, officials said.

China views almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory. China's claims to small islets in the region have put it at odds with five governments — the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan...

[Little-Acorn]

My guess is, the Chinese were testing a new sub, or new equipment on a sub, and didn't want the Imeccable anywhere near.

The Impeccable is a sub-hunting ship. It has no weapons, but carries a long (miles?) towed-array sonar tail, designed especially for listening for and to submarines. It's capable of generating a "picture" of the ocean for many miles around, showing what submarines are where, their courses and speeds, and analyzing their acoustic signature to determine any new or different equipment they have. Think of it as an undersea, acoustic version of an AWACS plane.

To call it a "mapping ship" is humorous. That's like calling the AWACS a "bird watcher".

Obviously the Chinese didn't want it in that part of the ocean at that time. Not hard to guess why.

[Kathianne]

My guess is, the Chinese were testing a new sub, or new equipment on a sub, and didn't want the Imeccable anywhere near.

The Impeccable is a sub-hunting ship. It has no weapons, but carries a long (miles?) towed-array sonar tail, designed especially for listening for and to submarines. It's capable of generating a "picture" of the ocean for many miles around, showing what submarines are where, their courses and speeds, and analyzing their acoustic signature to determine any new or different equipment they have.

Obviously the Chinese didn't want it in that part of the ocean at that time. Not hard to guess why.

Yet, if you read the article, it's an ongoing problem.

[Yurt]

My guess is, the Chinese were testing a new sub, or new equipment on a sub, and didn't want the Imeccable anywhere near.

The Impeccable is a sub-hunting ship. It has no weapons, but carries a long (miles?) towed-array sonar tail, designed especially for listening for and to submarines. It's capable of generating a "picture" of the ocean for many miles around, showing what submarines are where, their courses and speeds, and analyzing their acoustic signature to determine any new or different equipment they have. Think of it as an undersea, acoustic version of an AWACS plane.

To call it a "mapping ship" is humorous. That's like calling the AWACS a "bird watcher".

Obviously the Chinese didn't want it in that part of the ocean at that time. Not hard to guess why.

so it is a lie they are mapping things? our government is lying?

[DannyR]

so it is a lie they are mapping things? our government is lying?Yes, if you really want to call it that. Our government is quite fond of using falsehoods in order to protect important assets. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that, so long as they aren't doing it against our own citizens.

When Bush flew into Iraq, they told air controllers that Air Force 1 was a Gulfstream V and used fake transponder signals to show it as just such a craft. A blantant lie if you will. The military calls it disinformation.

[Little-Acorn]

so it is a lie they are mapping things? our government is lying?

Well... it also maps.