I was commenting on both sides. The entire incident could have been avoided if just one side followed protocol. Lt. Osborn should have gotten the hell out of there after the 2nd thump and Cmdr Wang Wei should have maintained minimum safe distance.
Technically it was an accident: Wangwei was trying to force the EP-3 away with his bow wave by which the EP-3 pilot could hardly read his meter panel.
but when Wang was bypassing for another round, EP-3 suddenly veered and one of its propeller broke J-8's vertical tail wing into pieces before Wangwei could ever evade.
Functionally, Wangwei never had a chance to evade the deathful strike since he was flying a high speed intercepter which lacks of subsonic maneuverability.
Chronically, they US scouts had been playing the giant-turn alone the EEZ line against the warning Chinese intercepters. the Chinese govt. brought forth a video of the US pilots' jugglery. And I also have to say that Wangwei indeed got too much close when escorting EP-3.
And politicaly, the US govt always takes his routine scout overriding any others' national security concern.
(ref. Report dated April 19th,2001,International Herald Tribune, to the effect that in resolving the collision over the South China Sea, the United States should take into consideration China's legitimate national security interests, Otherwise, the talks will not be successful. )
I have no idea what for the medal the EP-3 pilot had been awarded by G.Bush. no being shotted down by Wang's wingman, or disassembly vs lost and won by 1:0?
And the EEZ is not Chinese territorial waters. You will not find any legal argument to support that view. China only controls the resources within that zone. She has no control over traffic, especially military traffic, in the EEZ.
I mean where he dove into the sea,not vertically below the air crash spot.
What would you like to know. It was a Chinese attempt to reverse engineer the MiG-23 that she got from Eygpt.
about the original J-11/J-12, I have my story though.
And the Russians replaced them, especially when it came to redesign the body to fit their engine.
How come J-10 doesn't look any Russian, except the engine.