Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots, monitoring a Chinese navy warship as it navigated Australian waters, were alerted to a live-fire exercise via a civilian radio broadcast, defense officials revealed on Tuesday.
In February, a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate conducted an unprecedented live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea, located between Australia and New Zealand, prompting 49 commercial flights to be rerouted. The exercise marked a significant escalation in Chinese naval activity in the region.
China maintained that it had provided adequate warning about the drill in accordance with international law, but both Australian and New Zealand authorities criticized the notification process, noting it did not meet best practice standards.
Commercial airline pilots were the first to hear about the live-fire drill when a Virgin Australia pilot picked up a broadcast from the Chinese navy on the emergency radio channel, 121.5 MHz.
Ahead of a national election set for May, opposition leader Peter Dutton of the Liberal Party criticized the government, stating that it was unacceptable for Australia’s maritime surveillance to be "outsourced to a Virgin airline pilot."
At the Australian International Airshow in Avalon on Tuesday, RAAF maritime surveillance pilots disclosed that their P-8A Poseidon aircraft, which were conducting high-duration surveillance missions, had been monitoring the Chinese warship's communications on UHF and VHF frequencies.
P-8A Poseidon officer Patrick Makeham confirmed that the Chinese navy's transmissions were warnings about their live-fire exercises and operational positions. "The transmissions that came through are just standard warnings of their positions as well as their intent of live-fire exercises," Makeham said, adding that the warning was similar to an announcement of a live-fire drill in a specified area.
Air Commodore Gus Porter, the director-general of RAAF air combat capability, said the P-8A aircraft are regularly deployed for anti-submarine warfare and deterrence operations. "You don't need to be on top of a task group 24 hours a day to be tracking exactly what they are doing," he added.
RAAF P-8A aircraft routinely patrol international waters in the South China Sea, a region where China has criticized Australian presence. Last month, Australia lodged a formal complaint with China after a Chinese fighter jet released flares within 30 meters (100 feet) of an Australian P-8A aircraft, calling the actions "unsafe and unprofessional."
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