A Chinese Army aviation unit operating under the Eastern Theater Command conducted 11 combat scrambles in 10 days in response to repeated foreign military provocations near China’s coastline, according to firsthand accounts from a frontline pilot.
In a statement to PLA-affiliated media, pilot Wang Ling from an Army aviation brigade recalled a tense episode where a foreign military aircraft closed in to within 10 meters of his helicopter.
“At that moment, the order was to launch on a combat scramble. A foreign military aircraft was approaching our coastline,” Wang said. “The foreign aircraft suddenly banked in my direction, attempting to force me back. But when we were just 10 meters apart and I held my position, it sharply turned away in a steep climb.”
The incident did not end there. “The next day, the same aircraft returned,” Wang said, referencing continued attempts by the foreign side to test Chinese responses in the area.
PLA media noted that Wang’s brigade responded swiftly and consistently, executing all 11 combat sorties within 10 days without incident, and maintaining close-range aerial deterrence operations under pressure.
While Chinese authorities did not publicly identify the nationality of the foreign aircraft involved, the Eastern Theater Command routinely monitors U.S. and allied surveillance and patrol flights in areas surrounding the Taiwan Strait and East China Sea.
The account is part of a broader narrative highlighting China’s focus on frontline readiness, aerial confrontation endurance, and what Beijing defines as “countermeasures” against perceived airspace encroachment near its coastline.