Along with RAN and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) assets, Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) was shadowing the PLAN task group, Marles said.
Commercial Flights Rerouted After Chinese Navy Announces Last-Minute Live-Fire Drills Near Australia
Commercial airliners flying over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand were forced to reroute their flights on Friday morning Australian time because of a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) action group warning that it would conduct live-fire drills.
Australia had earlier announced on Feb. 13 that it was monitoring the PLAN task group, comprised of cruiser CNS Zunyi (107), frigate CNS Hengyang (568) and fleet oiler CNS Weishanhu (887) while the PLAN ships were operating north of Australia. The task group has since sailed into the Tasman Sea, which lies between Australia and New Zealand.
On Friday, Australian media channel ABC News reported Emirates flight UAE3HJ from Sydney to Christchurch was directly warned at 11 a.m Sydney time by the PLAN task group to avoid airspace this morning.
Australia’s ABC News also reported commercial pilots have been warned to avoid airspace between Australia and New Zealand because of the drills and that warnings remain in place. Airlines flying over the area are diverting flights.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a Friday press conference said the PLAN task group was operating outside Australia’s 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and that the notice, which was issued in accordance with practice, had expired. He added Australian Defence Force (ADF) Chief Adm. David Johnston had advised that it was not clear if any live fire occurred. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will make Australia’s representation to China Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a meeting during the G20 summit currently occuring in South Africa.
Albanese also said he discussed the matter with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and that Australian and New Zealand ships and P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft have been monitoring the PLAN task group.
In an interview with ABC Radio, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Australian government had not been directly informed by China about the live firing. “To be clear, we weren’t notified by China… What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live firing. By that I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines or literally planes that were commercial planes that were flying across the Tasman (Sea),” said Marles according to a transcript.
He went on to say the PLAN task group was operating in international waters and in compliance with international law, but when the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) conducted live firings, Australia would give 12-24 hours notice so airlines could properly plan around such activities. Marles said the situation was very disconcerting for the planes that were flying, but they were able to divert and no one was placed in danger.
The Australian Deputy Prime Minister said Australia would make representations to the Chinese government in Canberra and Beijing. “Firstly, in respect of what it is they are seeking to achieve in terms of the live fire exercises in this particular place, but also why more notice was not provided such that less disruption would have occurred,” said Marles.
Along with RAN and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) assets, Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) was shadowing the PLAN task group, Marles said. “So, there’s a very coordinated effort here between Australia and New Zealand to make sure that we’re monitoring all that the Chinese Task group are doing, so long as they are in our vicinity. And we’ll keep doing that until the task group leaves. And whenever their mission is over, we will fully assess exactly what it is that they’ve been trying to achieve,” stated Marles.
Australia’s Defence Department on Thursday also released three images dated Feb. 13 showing frigate HMAS Arunta (FFH151) shadowing the PLAN surface action group.
Te Kaha left Devonport Naval Base on Feb. 12 for a six-month Middle East deployment. It is unclear as to whether its shadowing the PLAN task group has delayed its expected arrival in the Middle East. The RNZN has a limited number of ships, with a total fleet of eight ships – two being inshore patrol craft. Te Kaha’s sister, HMNZS Te Mana (F111), was last reported in August 2024 to be in an extended maintenance period, while fleet oiler HMNZS Aotearoa (A11) is currently in the Antarctic conducting a resupply mission to research stations there. This leaves offshore patrol vessels HMNZS Otago (P148) and HMNZS Wellington (P55) and multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury (L421) available.
In an interview with New Zealand radio channel Newstalk ZB on Thursday, New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins called the PLAN despatching ships with advanced capabilities to operate around Australia and New Zealand and unusual move. “They’re really quite stunning pieces of equipment and we’ve never seen them in this area before,” said Collins.
The New Zealand Defence Minister said New Zealand has a number of assets – including its P-8A Poseidons, frigates and others – to monitor the PLAN ships, “and we’re working along with the Australians just to keep an eye on things and make sure everyone knows we’re watching.”
The PLAN surface task group had been earlier reported by the Philippines military as transiting through the Philippines’ archipelagic sea lanes from Feb.1-4. The Philippines military claimed that the transit was not conducted in accordance with international norms, with the PLAN ships transiting without prior diplomatic coordination and maintaining unusually slow speeds during the transit.
Meanwhile, an Iranian Navy task group consisting of frigate IRIS Dena (75) and naval auxiliary IRIS Shahid Marjni docked into the Port Klang Cruise Terminal on Friday for an operational visit, according to a Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) social media post. Official Malaysian shipping schedules showed that the Iranian ships will depart on Monday and that their last port of call before Port Klang was Bandar Abbas, Iran.
The Port Klang Cruise Terminal was the one-time base of operations for Leonard ‘Fat Leonard’ Francis though it has since undergone a succession of owners, with the U.S. Navy resuming carrier visits there with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in November 2024 and the Carl Vinson CSG over the new year period. The terminal sees regular use by foreign warships because of its proximity to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and its availability in contrast to the commercial ports located nearby.
The purpose of the deployment has not been disclosed, however, earlier Indonesian media reports had stated that Iran will send a naval task group for the Indonesian Navy’s multilateral exercise Komodo 2025 held in Bali from Feb. 15-22. However, the task group is now too late to participate in that.
Iran deployed a task group to the Indo-Pacific in 2022-2023 with Dena and Expeditionary Sea Base IRIS Makran (441), calling into Jakarta in November 2022 before being sighted in French Polynesia in December and subsequently in the Australian EEZ. USNI News reported in January 2023 that the Iranian ships were headed to Brazil and reported in April 2023 that the two ships were in South Africa.
Source: currinsnavalandmaritme