Chinese sub, US sonar collision accidental: report

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Chinese sub, US sonar collision accidental: report
2 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — A state-run newspaper said Monday that a Chinese submarine's reported collision with an underwater sonar apparatus towed by a U.S. destroyer last week in the South China Sea was likely an accident.

The official China Daily cited Chinese military experts as saying the submarine's collision with the sonar array connected to the USS John S. McCain while sailing near the Philippines probably occurred due to a misjudgment of distance.

Yin Zhuo, a senior researcher with the People's Liberation Army's Navy Equipment Research Center, said the American destroyer appeared to have failed to detect the submarine, while the Chinese vessel set its distance from the McCain assuming it was not carrying sonar arrays, according to the paper.

The sonar array scans and listens for foreign threats that also include mines and torpedoes.

Military officials would not confirm the incident. China's Defense Ministry did not respond to questions sent by fax Monday while calls to its offices rang unanswered.

U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Lt. Matt Galan said Sunday the multifunction towed array sonar attached to the USS John S. McCain was damaged Wednesday, but did not say how the damage occurred.

"All we know is that the towed array was damaged," Galan said. "There's some suspicion out about what it is, but that's really all we know."

CNN reported that the latest incident occurred near Subic Bay, off the coast of the Philippines. The network cited unidentified U.S. military officials as calling it an "inadvertent encounter" and that the Navy did not believe it was a deliberate act of Chinese harassment. The CNN report said the incident occurred Thursday.

Philippine Defense Undersecretary Alberto Valenzuela said the incident involving the McCain happened 125 nautical miles from Subic Bay in the northwestern Philippines, outside the country's territory.

The McCain took part in a military exercise in the Philippines and left May 22, the Philippine navy said.

Pentagon officials have said there were four incidents earlier this year where Chinese-flagged fishing vessels maneuvered close to unarmed U.S. ships crewed by civilians and used by the Pentagon to do underwater surveillance and submarine hunting missions.