Ministry of National Defense: "The strange object in the sea of Phu Yen is a foreign torpedo"
The Defense Ministry spokesman said the torpedo was designed as a model, completely different from the combat type.
At the press conference on the morning of December 27, answering questions fromPVRegarding the discovery of a "strange object" printed with Chinese characters by Phu Yen fishermen while fishing 4 nautical miles from shore, Major General Nguyen Van Duc, Director of the Propaganda Department (General Department of Politics, Ministry of National Defense) said that the object was handed over by Phu Yen Border Guard to Naval Region 4.
"That was a torpedo used for a foreign country's practice mission. It was simple for it to drift into our country's waters. Because it is normal for an object far offshore, in international waters, to drift into other countries' waters," said the Director of the Propaganda Department.
The German General informed that the practice torpedoes are completely different from combat torpedoes in terms of material and color. Many people participating in the militia can also recognize that the training equipment is just a model, different in nature from real weapons.
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"Strange object" found by Phu Yen fishermen on December 18. Photo:Grape Engraved |
Earlier on the afternoon of December 18, fishermen in Tuy An district (Phu Yen) found a "strange object" caught in their net while fishing in the An Hai sea area, about 4 nautical miles from shore. The cylindrical object was 6.8 m long, black and orange in color, and nearly 54 cm in diameter.
Three days later, the Chinese Ministry of Defense issued a statement: "We have learned that Vietnamese fishermen recovered a torpedo in Phu Yen province. The Chinese Navy lost a torpedo during a training exercise east of Hainan Island in early December, most likely due to the influence of ocean currents."
The Chinese navy confirmed that the lost torpedo was only a training version and "was launched without a specific target".
According to the normal training process of the countries, after being launched from the ship and moving to the end of the range, the training torpedo will surface to be recovered by the training ships. The recovery ship searches for the training torpedo and tows it with a cable at the end of the ship's stern. If the torpedo is lost or sunk, the training will be stopped, the ships will start searching from the launch position and follow the path of the training torpedo.
The search is extended to an area with a radius 2.4 times the torpedo's range and stopped if it is not found after two full searches of the area.
Training torpedoes can be carried away by ocean currents to other areas far from the training site after launch. In April 2017, Lithuanian coast guards discovered a Russian-made training torpedo on the coast of the Curonian Spit, about a kilometer from the Russian border.
