China's PLA Navy sends new surveillance planes on submarine hunt in disputed waters

The navy has deployed several new advanced surveillance aircraft to its North Sea Fleet to hunt down submarines in the East and South China seas.

The new "Gaoxin-6" maritime anti-submarine warfare planes are modified versions of the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation's Y-8 and Y-9 medium transport aircraft and were added to the People's Liberation Army's North Sea Fleet late last year, Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said yesterday.

The military launched the Gaoxin-6 in November, 2011, and designed it to play a role similar to the United States' P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft.

"But there is still a certain gap between China's Gaoxin-6 and the American P-3C, especially in terms of its flight and reconnaissance ranges," Li said.

The North Sea Fleet is responsible for operations in the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan and parts of the East China Sea, as well as the Bohai Sea near Beijing. Its aviation division, dubbed the "Sea Falcons", is so far the navy's only multi-tasking force capable of air, sea and space missions, according to the latest edition of Oriental Outlook, a weekly magazine affiliated with state-run Xinhua.

In addition to these missions, the Sea Falcons have started patrols over the South China Sea.

"The Gaoxin-6 specialises in reconnaissance and searching for submarines," Li said.