China’s Navy seizes American underwater drone in South China Sea | Reuters

China’s Navy seizes American underwater drone in South China Sea | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-drone-idUSKBN14526J

The seizure by the Chinese Navy will add to concerns about China’s growing military presence and aggressive posture in the disputed South China Sea, including its militarization of maritime outposts.

China Snatches Underwater Drone from Military Sealift Command Ship ’Bowditch’ in South China Sea – gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/china-takes-underwater-drone-from-military-sealift-command-ship-bowditch-i

The drone was part of an unclassified program to collect oceanographic data including salinity, temperature and clarity of the water, the U.S. official added. The data can help inform U.S. military sonar data since such factors affect sound.

The USNS Bowditch, a U.S. Navy ship crewed by civilians that carries out oceanographic work, had already retrieved one of two of its drones, known as ocean gliders, when a Chinese Navy Dalang 3 class vessel took the second one.

Officials said the Bowditch was only 500 meters (yards) from the drone and, observing the Chinese intercede, used bridge-to-bridge communications to demand it be returned.

The Chinese ship acknowledged the communication but did not respond to the Bowditch’s demands, the Pentagon’s Davis said.

“The only thing they said after they were sailing off into the distance was: “we are returning to normal operations,” Davis said.

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