Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't "detonate" flares, they don't explode, they just burn with a bright flame. Yes, certainly, dropping, popping, ejecting them near other aircraft, especially with an intention to harass is unprofessional and dangerous, but the headline is still sensationalist.

To be clear, I'm not tone policing, the verbiage just gives the wrong impression on how flares work.

The author here uses ""international waters"" to denote an area the Chinese haven't claimed yet but surely will claim as its own territory someday soon.

Seriously, fuck these imperialist shit-hole countries.

detonates flares

Bruh

This is the best summary I could come up with:

An Australian pilot was forced to take evasive action after a Chinese military jet detonated flares close to a Navy helicopter that was operating in international waters near South Korea.

The Defence Department has described the actions of the J-10 Chinese Air Force plane as "unsafe and unprofessional" following the incident which took place in the Yellow Sea over the weekend.

On Saturday a MH-60R Seahawk which had launched from HMAS Hobart was intercepted by the People's Liberation Army-Air Force (PLA-AF) as it was taking part in a UN mission to enforce sanctions against North Korea.

"The PLA Air Force plane dropped flares about 300 metres in front of the Seahawk helicopter and about 60 metres above it, requiring the helicopter to take evasive action in order to not be hit by those flares," Mr Marles said in a statement.

Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie also condemned what he described as the "provocative and dangerous interaction" of the Chinese Air Force with an Australian helicopter in the Yellow Sea.

"The Coalition calls on Richard Marles to stand up for our ADF personnel and raise this incident directly with his Chinese counterpart," Mr Hastie added.

The original article contains 407 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 52%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Incident occurred thousands of kilometers from the Australian mainland in the Yellow Sea. It's important to note here that the entire Yellow Sea falls under either China, South Korea, or North Korea's EEZ, although most of it falls under no country's ADIZ because of how the countries bordering the Yellow Sea have negotiated airspace rules.

Australia is getting their panties in a twist. They're fucking flares, a standard component of intercepts when veering near sovereign airspace.

US F-22s intercept Russian fighter jets, fire warning flares

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap5_section_6.html

Tankies are out in force today....