Chinese spy ship spotted off Australian coast could collect intel on US warships in the region: experts

Name: China builds full-scale mock-ups of US warships in area used for missile target practice
Uploaded: 2022-05-16T13:11:45.000Z
Duration: 1 min 10 s
Description: China builds full-scale mock-ups of US warships in area used for missile target practice

Type 815 ship’s radar aperture can receive frequencies and spectra from warships at long distances, data crucial for electromagnetic warfare: naval observer

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In this image supplied by the Australian Department of Defence, a PLA Navy Intelligence Collection Vessel Haiwangxing was operating off the north-west shelf of Australia, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Photo: Australian Defence Dept via AP

Minnie Chan

Published: 9:11pm, 16 May 2022

The deployment of a sophisticated Chinese navy spy ship to sail close to a naval communication station on the west coast of Australia last week would help Beijing collect information about the United States’ active warships in the region, analysts said.

The Type 815 Dongdiao-class auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) ship Neptune, or Haiwangxing in Chinese, is a new advanced electromagnetic reconnaissance vessel equipped with highly sensitive equipment to deter electronic signals of warships in the region, military experts said.

“The latest visit is a revisit of the PLA Type 815 AGI to Australian waters, implying the PLA has taken tours to the waters as regular missions, as Beijing may take Canberra as a potential rival given the clout of Aukus and the Quad,” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung.

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China builds full-scale mock-ups of US warships in area used for missile target practice

Lu referred to the security pact signed by the United States, Britain and Australia, as well as the informal four-sided defence group comprising the US, India, Australia and Japan.

Last week, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton described the actions of the Type 815 vessel as an “aggressive act” because it had sailed so far south and on May 11 came within 50 nautical miles of the Harold E Holt naval communications station at Exmouth, a facility used by Australian, US and allies’ submarines.

After the Exmouth stop, the PLA spy ship then apparently changed course and headed east along the coast towards Darwin in the Northern Territory, where the US has military permanently stationed, according to a report published by The War Zone, an American military website, on Friday.

In July last year, another PLA Dongdiao-class spy ship was spotted operating off the waters of Queensland during Exercise Talisman Sabre, biennial, bilateral US-Australia exercises that include participation by the Japanese and Canadian navies.