A day after China said it drove a US Navy destroyer away from
Beijing-claimed waters in the South China Sea, the US 7th Fleet said
the same warship sailed through those waters to challenge the Chinese claims.
The warship in question is the “guided-missile destroyer, USS Milius.
This is the latest in a series of such encounters.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how US Navy has exposed China’s claims
of driving USS Milius away? Let's get into the details.
US 7th Fleet spokesperson Lt jg Luka Bakic said,
The “guided-missile destroyer USS Milius asserted navigational rights and freedoms
in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law,”
The warship conducted what the US Navy calls a “freedom of navigation operation,” or FONOP,
Bakic said, “challenging the restrictions on innocent passage
imposed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, and Vietnam.”
All three claim the Paracels, known as the Xishas in China,
a group of about 130 small atolls, the biggest of which are home to Chinese military bases.
The US statement also stated the Milius challenged China’s claim to “straight
baselines enclosing the Paracels,” meaning Beijing’s claims to waters between the islands,
even when those waters are outside the internationally
recognized 12-nautical-mile limit from a coastline for territorial waters.
The Paracel islands dispute is part of the larger South China Sea dispute.
China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea including the Paracel Islands.
It said that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the area.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have disputed these claims.
The route is significant as about $5 trillion in trade through shipping passes each year.
Countries like the US, UK, Japan & India have no claims in the area and
want ‘Freedom of Navigation’ as per international maritime laws.
China has tried imposing a unilateral decision as per which all ships & aircraft
navigating in the area need to identify themselves to the Chinese military.
Chinese Navy has heckled vessels of smaller nations like Vietnam & the
Philippines several times in the last couple of years.
It has militarized several islands in the area and has even deployed advanced missile
systems like YJ-12 Anti Ship Missile as well as HQ-9 Surface to Air missile.
USS Milius is an Arleigh Burke class-guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy.
Arleigh Burke-class warships were designed as multi-mission destroyers capable of
Anti Aircraft Warfare (AAW), Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW).
USS Milius being an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is among
the largest destroyers built in the United States.
It has an overall length of 509 feet (155 m) and a displacement of about 9,200 tons
The warship has a speed of 30+ knots or 55+ km/h and a range of 4600 miles or 8,100 km.
USS Milius is a potent platform and is capable of carrying out different kinds of missions.
It has in total 96 cells Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) divided into two blocks of 32 & 64
cells. These can be configured with the combination of the following weapons,
based on the mission requirements such as SM-2MR Block IIIB for Air Defense & Anti
Ship role, SM-3 for Ballistic missile defense, ESSM for anti-missile role,
ERAM or SM 6 for anti-air warfare with a range of 150 miles or 240 km and speed Mach 3.5,
BGM-109 Tomahawk for land attack as well as RUM-139A VL-ASROC for anti-submarine role.
It also has 2 × Mk 141 Harpoon Missile Launcher for Anti Ship
role and 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes for Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedoes
USS Milius can also accommodate two MH-60R Seahawk
LAMPS III helicopters that are capable of Anti Submarine Warfare.
The warship is also equipped with a long-range naval gun and multiple Close-In Weapon Systems.
China on Friday reacted angrily to the presence
of the US warship near the islands it claims in the South China Sea region.
China threatened “serious consequences” after the United States Navy sailed the destroyer
around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day
in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its sovereignty and security.
Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry, said in a statement,
“The actions of the US military have seriously violated China’s sovereignty
and security and seriously violated international law,”
Tan added, “The guided-missile
destroyer USS Milius broke into China’s Xisha territorial waters again without the approval
of the Chinese government, undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea”
Over the last few years, China has become increasingly aggressive.
It is to be noted that a new Chinese law has come into effect in 2021 which allows the Chinese Coast
Guard or CCG to use weapons against foreign ships that it sees as illegally entering its waters.
With this law, China's coast guard could use water cannons, handcuffs,
and tear gas although the use of more lethal weapons is not explicitly ruled out.
Notably, China has reorganized its coast guard in recent years.
The CCG has been transformed into a military-like organization under the centralized command of the
Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission.
This is similar to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
While China has been intimidating smaller nations like Vietnam,
China has not been able to make the US back down from conducting Freedom of Navigation Operations.
When it comes to USS Milius, the warship is well equipped to deal with any Chinese misadventure.