Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Unknown Missile Launch off L.A. triggers Hunt for Red November

The Internet and Blogosphere is rife with speculation regarding the mystery missle launch off the California coast, we at China-Defense.com are no exception. The launch, sighted early evening on November the 8th was within plain view of millions of residents of Los Angeles and a TV news chopper.

Could this have been the work of a Chinese SSBN? We really don't know and the US Defense Department has given no definitive answer on the matter.

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit from this is that the FAA has quietly announced the closure of a swath of airspace off the coast of California to civilian air traffic. Is there a Hunt for Red November happening right now off California?

The Notice to Airmen from the FAA is as follows:
KZLA LOS ANGELES A2832/10 – THE FOLLOWING RESTRICTIONS ARE REQUIRED DUE TO NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION ACTIVATION OF W537. IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY, ALL NON-PARTICIPATING PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID W537. IFR TRAFFIC UNDER ATC JURISDICTION SHOULD ANTICIPATE CLEARANCE AROUND W537 AND CAE 1176. CAE 1155 WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. CAE 1316 & CAE 1318 WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. CAE 1177 WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR OCEANIC TRANSITION. W537 ACTIVE, CAE 1176 CLOSED. SURFACE – FL390, 09 NOV 20:00 2010 UNTIL 10 NOV 01:00 2010. CREATED: 08 NOV 20:52 2010

Click here for a map of Warning Area W-537.


Enjoy these unrelated photos of China's newest Type 094 Jin class SSBNs showing off their goods to US spy satellites. And as always, more discussion is ongoing in China-Defense Forum.





No comments: