People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier CNS Shandong and its escorts are being shadowed by a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSD) destroyer according to a Saturday release by Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The MoD also acknowledged on Monday the movements of other PLAN ships around Japan.
On Saturday, the Joint Staff Office of MoDissued a release stating that at 7 a.m. that day, Shandong, together with destroyers CNS Guilin (164) and CNS Changsha (173) and frigates CNS Xuchang (536) and CNS Huangshan (570), was sailing in waters lying 285 miles south of Miyako Island. The release also stated that Shandong was conducting launches and recoveries of its embarked fighters and helicopters. JMSDF destroyer JS Sazanami (DD-113) is shadowing the PLAN carrier and its escorts, according to the release.
On Monday, the JSO issued three releases on PLAN ship movement around Japan. The first stated that on Saturday at noon, a Dongdiao-class surveillance ship with hull number 799 was sighted sailing southeast in an area 62 miles northeast of Taisho Island and subsequently transited through the Miyako Strait to enter the Philippine Sea. Destroyer JS Ariake (DD-109), along with a JMSDF P-3C maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) of Fleet Air Wing 5 based at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, shadowed the PLAN ship.
The second release stated that at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dongdiao-class intelligence ship Tianshuxing (795) was sighted sailing eastward in an area 43 miles southwest of Yokoate-jima, an uninhabited volcanic island in the East China Sea. Subsequently, at 1pm, cruiser CNS Nanchang (101) and fleet oiler CNS Kekexilihu (903) were sighted sailing eastward in an area 37 miles west of Yokoate-jima. From Sunday to Monday, the three PLAN ships sailed northeast in the waters between Amami Oshima and Yokoate-jima to enter the Pacific Ocean. Minesweeper JS Yakushima (MSC-602) and P-1 MPAs of Fleet Air Wing 1, based at JMSDF Kanoya Air Base on the main island of Kyushu, monitored the PLAN ships.
Monday’s final release stated that at 10 a.m. that day, destroyer CNS Tangshan (122) and frigate CNS Weifang (550) were sighted sailing southeast in an area 87 miles north of Miyako Island and subsequently sailed southeast through the Miyako Strait to enter the Philippine Sea. Minesweeper Shishijima (MSC-691) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion of Fleet Air Wing 5 shadowed the PLAN warships, according to the release.
On Saturday, the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group arrived in Manila for a scheduled port visit according to a Navy release that day. Along with the carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), cruisers USS Antietam (CG-54) and USS Robert Smalls (CG-62) also docked in Manila for the visit. Meanwhile, destroyer USS Shoup (DDG-86), which is the sole destroyer in the Reagan CSG, was in the Philippine Sea that day, conducting routine operations, according to Navy imagery. Prior to its port visit, Reagan on Friday conducted a replenishment at sea with fleet oiler USNS Yukon (T-AO-202) while underway in the South China Sea.
Meanwhile, a Russian Navy surface action group (SAG) comprised of destroyers RFS Admiral Tributs (546) and RFS Admiral Panteleyev (548) and fleet oiler Pechenga, left the port city of Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, was crossing the Java Sea according, to a Friday Russian Ministry of Defense release. The Russian Ministry of Defense previously stated that the deployment was part of the Russian Pacific Fleet’s training plan and was intended to demonstrate Russian naval presence and develop and strengthen friendly relations with foreign countries.
Source: news.usni.org
