Patrol aircraft makes new technological breakthroughs

A B-3837 marine surveillance plane had arrived in the airspace of the Diaoyu Island to carry out a joint air-sea patrol with ships numbered as 50, 46, 66 and 137, China's State Oceanic Administration had announced on its website on December 13, 2012.

Scholar with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Wang Xiaopeng said that China's marine surveillance planes had been patrolling on the waters of the Yellow Sea, South China Sea and East China Sea and the use of them on the Diaoyu Islands this time indicted the consistent position of China on the related issues, which did not violate the international marine management regulations.

Due to institutional problems and lack of advanced technology, the previous patrols were mainly carried out in offshore areas. They involved in salvage at sea and pollution regulation, rather than maintenance of the territorial sovereignty and administrative jurisdiction.

Currently, China's marine surveillance planes have made new breakthroughs in technology, equipping with more advanced surveillance equipment, which had been quickly and efficiently applied in patrolling. The air-sea patrols are more advanced than before. Wang pointed out that the B-3837 plane in service is a new one, equipping with advanced monitoring equipment, and has a broader coverage for monitoring data and higher accuracy of information collection.

As for the quick and timely release of the news by the State Oceanic Administration, Wang said that using the most advanced maritime surveillance planes to carry out effective management on the sea area of the Diaoyu Islands is a clear indication that China always uses the non-armed force to deal with disputes and administer related airspace and waters and do not violate the international marine management system.