US sends Navy sub hunters to Chinese defense zone

The Pentagon is deploying several submarine-hunting aircraft to a hotly contested air defense zone in the Pacific, in the latest step of military one-upmanship between Washington and Beijing. 

The first of the Navy P-8 Poseidons arrived in the Asia-Pacific region on Sunday, with additional deployments expected over the coming weeks, according to Reuters. 

{mosads}The P-8, an advanced version of the sea service’s P-3 Orion surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, is designed to track and target submarines and small vessels operating in the open sea. 

The Poseidons will be stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, miles from the so-called air defense identification zone set up by China in recent weeks. 

Chinese leaders instituted new rules for U.S. allied military aircraft operating in the skies above the Diaoyutai and Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. 

U.S. and allied forces are now required to identify themselves and their mission to Chinese forces before entering the no-fly zone, according to Beijing. 

The Diaoyutai and Senkaku islands in the East China Sea have frequently been a flashpoint between China and U.S. allies in the Pacific.

A majority of American operations flown in the area, which had been considered international airspace, consist of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and large-scale training missions with U.S allies. 

Declining to go into details, Warren said Monday that American military aircraft conduct missions in the zone on a weekly basis. 

That said, the P-8 and other U.S. aircraft will participate in the Pentagon’s “regular” air operations over the the zone, Defense Department spokesman Col. Steve Warren said Monday. 

Those operations, he noted, will not include American aircraft adhering to China’s new air defense rules. 

Washington’s continued non-compliance with the Chinese air defense zone will continue during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Beijing. 

Biden is scheduled to meet with top Chinese officials, in an attempt to quell tensions between the two world powers, spawned by the new air defense zone. 

That said, American commanders have no plans to curtail or halt military air operations over the contested zone. 

Last Tuesday, A pair of American B-52 bombers flew unannounced into the air defense zone above the East China Sea,  in a direct rebuke of China’s asserted authority over the area.

That Friday, Beijing sent several fighter jets into the area, to patrol the air defense zone, further fueling concern the ongoing standoff could boil over into outright conflict. 

But on Monday, Warren tamped down such concerns, telling reporters “reaction has been normal” from Beijing, in response to U.S. operations in the region.