Chinese Fighter Jets Simulate Constructive Kills on British Carrier Strike Group.

Chinese fighter jets executed “constructive kill” attack profiles against HMS Richmond as the UK’s carrier group, led by HMS Prince of Wales, was tracked and harassed near the Spratly Islands, according to British officers cited by The Independent on Sept. 30, 2025. The incidents underscore rising risk around freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, routes critical to U.S. trade and allied security.

The Independent reported on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, that Chinese aircraft flew the same trajectories they would use to strike Royal Navy vessels before breaking off, described by officers as “constructive kills”, while Chinese ships shadowed the UK carrier HMS Prince of Wales and frigate HMS Richmond near the Spratly Islands. The update adds that HMS Richmond also faced simulated attack runs during a Taiwan Strait transit. These maneuvers increase the chance of miscalculation in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes and test allied commitments to open navigation.
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HMS Prince of Wales, a 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth-class carrier, operates F-35B short take-off and vertical landing aircraft and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare, enabling an air-sea protective bubble extending hundreds of miles. (Picture source: UK MoD)

The episode forms part of the sequence that began with HMS Richmond’s transit of the Taiwan Strait on 12 September alongside the US destroyer USS Higgins. Beijing denounced a “provocation” and deployed air and naval assets to shadow the two ships, while London and Washington described a routine passage in international waters.

HMS Prince of Wales, a 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth-class carrier, operates F-35B short take-off and vertical landing aircraft and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare, enabling an air-sea protective bubble extending hundreds of miles. Its STOVL deck and mission architecture allow sustained sortie generation in a contested environment, while providing a useful command-and-control volume for allied operations. HMS Richmond, a Type 23 frigate optimized for anti-submarine warfare, fields a hull sonar and towed array, CAMM Sea Ceptor missiles for local area air defense, and a hangar for Merlin or Wildcat, making it a frontline sensor and early-warning picket for the strike group. USS Higgins, an Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke Flight IIA destroyer, combines the SPY-1 radar, SM-2 or SM-6 surface-to-air missiles, and precision-strike options, providing layered defense and an expanded air-defense umbrella within the allied formation.

The constructive kill maneuver functions as signaling. Pilots climb, place themselves within a plausible weapons envelope, simulate an attack solution, then disengage. On the British side, officers describe an information-warfare intent designed to make clear that the aircraft are “targeting” them while keeping a safety margin. On the Chinese side, the fighters used in these scenarios are multirole platforms with long-range profiles, able to carry beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and anti-ship loads; the latest versions mount AESA radars, allowing realistic approach parameters even without firing. British reports describe this to-and-fro in detail, visible on consoles and suitable for post-mission analysis.

HMS Prince of Wales leads Carrier Strike Group 25 under Operation Highmast, an eight-month campaign to and through the Indo-Pacific, punctuated by diplomatic calls and multinational exercises. Beyond political signaling, the deployment is used to test the group’s endurance and tactical sequencing. In practical terms, the carrier generates F-35B sorties and manages the tactical airspace, while Richmond acts as the anti-submarine escort and close-in watch, detecting submarine signatures and countering the threat from sea-launched cruise missiles with its short-range defenses. USS Higgins extends the air-defense coverage and salvo-handling capacity, with its fire control and data links integrating allied sensors into a common tactical picture. This three-cornered arrangement, conventional but effective, underpins the crews’ confidence during harassment episodes.

On station around the Spratlys, Chinese platforms alternated tracking, close approaches, and shows of presence around allied units, modulating intensity above or below contested thresholds. British crews describe four or five Chinese ships seeking to close with the Prince of Wales to test reactions. The surface units involved in these situations combine surveillance radars, long-range optics, and robust communications, often with coast-guard support, enabling tight contact and exploitation of legal gray areas. In the air, the simulated trajectories remained readable on shipborne radar and electro-optics. Altogether, the sequence generated data useful for refining rules of engagement, alert procedures, and close-in defense drills.

The Taiwan Strait, a narrow waterway, carries specific legal and political weight. Beijing regularly presents the strait as internal waters, whereas Western navies point to freedom of navigation under UNCLOS. In practice, each routine transit triggers public statements, coordinated air-sea shadowing, imagery capture, then a return to calm. In this case, the combined presence of a US Aegis destroyer and a British anti-submarine escort under the umbrella of a carrier capable of operating F-35B with fused sensors and secure data links reduced the coercive value of the opposing aerial displays.

At the strategic level, Highmast is more than a tour of partnerships. It is a full-scale test. The Royal Navy is validating sortie generation from a STOVL carrier, the maintenance of an anti-submarine screen around an escort group, sensor-saturation management, and allied coordination. The Burke-class destroyer provides the backbone of integrated air and missile defense, the Type 23 closes anti-submarine gaps, and the carrier holds the informational advantage. Facing this, Chinese assets demonstrate coordinated interception in a disputed area, assertive ISR collection, and determination messaging while staying below the lethal threshold. The result is a persistent friction environment, where each harassment sequence also serves as a learning cycle.

Three points stand out. First, the incident involving HMS Richmond in the Taiwan Strait and the pressure around Prince of Wales in the Spratlys reflect a calibrated, non-lethal Chinese demonstration. Second, CSG25 under Highmast pursues a dual aim of allied presence in the Indo-Pacific and maturation of its operational credibility through a coherent carrier–ASW–Aegis triad. Third, the area will continue to invite such encounters as long as interpretations of maritime law and territorial claims remain irreconcilable in the near term. Open sources, from British media to official statements, align on this assessment and frame the events on 12 and 30 September 2025.