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Australian helicopters targeted by lasers in South China Sea

epa04676617 An undated handout picture made available by the Royal Australian Navy on 24 March 2015 shows a Royal Australian Navy MRH90 Taipan Multi Role Helicopter conducting deck landing and recovering procedures on HMAS Tobruk during the ships transit to Vanuatu to provide assistance to Operation Pacific Assist 2015, at sea. The Australian Defense Force (ADF) is supporting the Australian Government's assistance mission to the people of Vanuatu following the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Pam. HMAS Tobruk set sail to Vanuatu from the Port of Townsville in mid-march 2015, loaded with much needed supplies and ADF personnel, to help assist in the clean-up following the after math of Tropical Cyclone Pam. HMAS Tobruk is deployed under Operation Pacific Assist 2015, a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operation aimed at assisting the Government of Vanuatu. EPA/ABIS TOM GIBSON/ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY

CNN reports that Australian military helicopters were targeted with lasers during operations in the South China Sea this month. The lasers were pointed at them from passing fishing vessels.

The incidents were revealed by Euan Graham of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote on The Strategist blog, who was aboard the warship HMAS Canberra, a helicopter landing dock and flagship of the Royal Australian Navy, from which the aircraft were operating.

Graham also said that the Canberra and other Australian ships operating with it were shadowed almost continuously by Chinese warships while in the South China Sea, even though they did not approach any of the islands and reefs occupied by the Chinese military.

US military officials told CNN last year that there were at least 20 suspected Chinese laser incidents in the eastern Pacific from September 2017 to June 2018.

 

Via CNN

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