(Source: NY Times & BBC)

Violent, fiery clashes between the police and workers at a South Korean auto factory ended on Thursday after the company agreed to keep half the workers at the plant rather than lay them all off in a restructuring, union and company officials said.

After the concession by Ssangyong Motor Company, South Korea’s fifth-largest automaker, the workers agreed to end their 77-day occupation of the plant, which had virtually become war zone. The confrontation was closely monitored by foreign investors as a test of will both for South Korean unions, known for their militant activism, and for President Lee Myung-bak’s government, which has vowed to ensure more “flexibility” for companies to shed workers at times of economic distress.

Picking his way past the ranks of riot police and the barricaded factory gates, it was Ssangyong’s chief financial officer who came out to break the news to the waiting journalists.

“The 77-day strike is over,” he said.

“Are you relieved?” asked the a reporter.

“It may have come a bit late,” he replied, “but we’re glad it has ended peacefully.”

“We are relieved that we have avoided the worst-case scenario,” said Lee Yoo-il, a court-appointed top manager of Ssangyong. “We hope this is the beginning of reviving our company.”

In a series of raids this week on the plant, about 40 miles south of Seoul, police commandos rappelled from helicopters as workers hurled firebombs. Hundreds were injured. By Wednesday, the police had overrun most of the facility and cornered 500 workers in a paint shop filled with flammable liquids.

Outside the plant, sporadic clashes continued even after the deal was signed. Non-union workers and burly men hired by management for security beat at least one journalist and a few union sympathizers while police officers looked on. One man, with blood flowing from his face, was carried away in an ambulance. Some in the crowd cursed the police, saying they were slow to intervene.

It is the smallest of South Korea’s car makers, and it specialises in making gas-guzzling sports-utility vehicles, including a car often cruelly championed by reviewers for its ugliness, the Rodius. Its niche did not make it best-placed to ride out the global recession.  Ssangyong filed for bankruptcy protection in January as sales fell and debt mounted. Some 2,000 workers have since left the company voluntarily. The company announced a restructuring and cost-cutting program in April that called for the layoffs of 36 percent of the company’s remaining work force, including all 970 workers at the plant here. The workers began occupying the plant on May 22.

Earlier this year Ssangyong’s Chinese backer, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, gave up management control and it went into receivership.  The court-appointed managers insisted that for the company to survive they needed to lay off more than 2,500 staff, a third of the total workforce. And that is when the real trouble began.

Many workers did choose temporary redundancy, but 600 of those earmarked for the sack took to the barricades.   “It is bad management and their bad decisions that have caused the problems, but only the workers who are facing the consequences,” said one worker.

The management had attempted to reach a compromise, promising to guarantee 40% of the strikers’ jobs in return for their surrender, but the union stuck to its demand for all jobs to be saved. In the end, the deal they are reported to have accepted does not look all that different to the one on offer earlier.

The compromise between the union and management, which will retain 48 percent of the jobs at the factory, diffused further violence. As the news of the deal spread, workers’ family members and supporters gathered at the factory gates. The workers began to leave the factory on police buses. They were greeted by supporters holding placards and banners and singing labor songs as they stepped off the buses in downtown Pyeongtaek, and workers hugged their tearful wives and children.

Click here or here to read the entire article.

(Source: Flight Global & USAF – WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE)

The US Air Force Research Laboratory is making final preparations for a four-flight scramjet test programme that it hopes will prove that achieving hypersonic thrust is more than “just luck”.

Image Courtesy: USAF - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE. Staff Sgt. Jonathan Young with the 412th Maintenance Group prepares to upload the X-51A WaveRider hypersonic flight test vehicle to a B-52 for fit testing at Edwards Air Force Base on July 17. Two B-52 flights, one captive carriage and one dress rehearsal, are planned this fall prior to the X-51's first hypersonic scramjet flight over the Pacific Ocean scheduled in December. The Air Force Research Laboratory, DARPA, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and Boeing are partnering on the X-51A technology demonstrator program. (Air Force photo by Chad Bellay)

First flight of the expendable X-51A vehicle is set for December, with three subsequent 300s flights to follow at four- to six-week intervals, barring failures. The flights will examine scramjet performance in acceleration from Mach 4 to M6 after launch from the wing of a Boeing B-52H.

The $246.5 million, six-year programme is a year behind schedule, but carries high hopes for the hypersonics community. USAF X-51A programme manager Charlie Brink told the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 45th Joint Propulsion Conference in Denver: “We want more flight success to show [achieving hypersonic thrust] isn’t just luck. There is no plan for a follow-on programme [to X-51A]. It is a question of when not if, but [the hypersonics community] have to be successful.”

Image Courtesy: USAF - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE. The X-51A WaveRider hypersonic flight test vehicle was uploaded to an Air Force Flight Test Center B-52 for fit testing at Edwards Air Force Base on July 17. Two B-52 flights, one captive carriage and one dress rehearsal, are planned this fall prior to the X-51's first hypersonic scramjet flight over the Pacific Ocean scheduled in December. The Air Force Research Laboratory, DARPA, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and Boeing are partnering on the X-51A technology demonstrator program. (Air Force photo by Chad Bellay)

During the flight test, currently planned Dec. 2, the Air Force Flight Test Center’s B-52 will carry the X-51A to 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean then release it. A solid rocket booster from an Army tactical missile system then will ignite and accelerate the X-51 to about Mach 4.5. Then, the supersonic combustion ramjet propulsion system will propel the vehicle for five minutes to more than Mach 6. Hypersonic combustion generates intense heat so routing of the engine’s own JP-7 fuel will help keep the engine at the desired operating temperature.

Engineers expect a great deal will be learned about hypersonic flight during the nearly 300 seconds under scramjet power. The longest-ever previous scramjet test, lasted only about 10 seconds, Brink said. As the engine ignites it will initially burn a mix of ethylene and JP-7 before switching exclusively to JP-7 fuel.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Wikipedia, AOPA Blog, Hoax-Slayer.com)

For many of us, there exists on the world map a small state called Gibraltar, which is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula andEurope at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers 6.843 square kilometres (2.642 sq mi) and shares a land border with Spain to the north. The Gibraltar Airport is 1,600 feet from the city, the shortest commute of any major airport in the world. One would naturally ask the question how difficult it is to operate and land aircrafts when the airport is so close to the city.  British Gibraltar has very little area, and the important airport runway takes up a major portion of land. To drive from Gibraltar to Spain, vehicles must cross the runway.The picture below (taken by a Cessna Pilot as he approached for landing) shows you what happens in Gibraltar where pedestrians and vehicles share the space with aircraft on the tarmac.

Image Courtesy: AOPA

(Source: U.S. Government Acocuntability Office)

Why GAO Did this Study

In 1995, the Department of Defense (DOD) began an effort to implement a standard departmentwide travel system—the Defense Travel System (DTS). GAO has made numerous recommendations aimed at improving DOD management, oversight, and implementation of DTS.

Image Courtesy: Apture

GAO was asked to:

• Assess the actions DOD has taken to implement GAO’s prior recommendations;
• Determine the actions DOD has taken to standardize and streamline its travel rules and processes;
• Determine if DOD has identified its legacy travel systems, their operating costs, and which of these systems will be eliminated; and
• Report on DOD’s costs to process travel vouchers manually and electronically.

To address these objectives, GAO (1) obtained and analyzed relevant travel policies and procedures, and documents related to the operation of DTS and (2) interviewed appropriate DOD and contractor personnel.

What GAO Found

While the department has made progress in improving the efficiency of its travel operations by implementing DTS and revising its processes and policies, unresolved operational issues continue to exist. DOD has taken sufficient action to satisfactorily address 6 of the 14 recommendations GAO made in 2006 pertaining to unused airline tickets, restricted airfares, testing of system interfaces, and streamlining of certain travel processes. More effort is needed to address the remaining 8 related to requirements management and system testing, utilization, premium-class travel, and developing an automated approach to reduce the need for hard-copy receipts to substantiate travel expenses. For example, in the area of requirements management and testing, GAO’s analysis found that the display of flight information by DTS is complicated and confusing. This problem continues because DOD has yet to establish DTS flight display requirements that minimize the number of screens DOD travelers must view in selecting a flight.

The 1995 DOD Travel Reengineering Report made 22 recommendations to streamline DOD’s travel rules and processes. GAO found that DOD had satisfactorily addressed all 22 recommendations. For example, DOD has mandated the use of commercial travel offices (CTO), established a single entity within DOD—the Defense Travel Management Office—to contract with CTOs for travel services, and has begun modifying CTO contracts as they become subject to renewal to standardize the level of services provided.

According to DOD officials, except for locations where DTS has not yet been deployed, DTS is used by the military services and all 44 defense agencies and joint commands to process temporary duty (TDY) travel vouchers. The department uses two legacy systems to process:

• TDY travel vouchers at locations where DTS is not yet deployed and
• Civilian and military permanent duty travel vouchers since DTS currently lacks the functionality to process these vouchers.

DOD provided us with fiscal year 2008 expenditure data for one system and budget data for the other system. The expenditure/budget data provided by DOD were comparable to the amounts budgeted for these systems for fiscal year 2008. According to DOD officials, these legacy systems will not be eliminated because they provide the capability to process military and civilian permanent duty travel vouchers. Although DTS is expected to provide the capability to process military permanent duty travel vouchers in fiscal year 2010, DOD has not yet decided if civilian permanent duty travel voucher processing will be added to DTS.

DOD cost data indicate that it is about 15 times more expensive to process a travel voucher manually—$36.52 manually versus $2.47 electronically. DOD officials acknowledged that the department continues to lack the data needed to ascertain the complete universe of travel vouchers that should be processed through DTS.

What GAO Recommends

Because GAO has existing recommendations regarding the actions needed to address the weaknesses discussed in this report, GAO reiterates 8 of its 14 prior recommendations. DOD commented that it has taken sufficient action to address 12 of the 14 recommendations, including 6 of the 8 GAO is reiterating, and described actions under way or planned to address the other 2. GAO disagrees. GAO received technical comments, which were incorporated as appropriate.

Click here to read/download the entire report.

7th International Energy Conversion and Engineering Conference (IECEC)

2 – 5 Aug 2009
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado

The 7th IECEC will explore the future of clean energy systems through a series of panel discussions and technical paper presentations. This year’s hot topics include:

Alternative power systems – such as fuel cell technology and solar system technology

Biofuels, including biodiesel fuels and fuels created from food-waste

Electric power systems which would replace traditional fossil fuel based propulsion systems

Nanotechnlology applications for solar power systems, among many others. There will also be a discussion of future energy policy needs to answer the demand for “green” energy systems.

Featured Sessions:

• Apollo Anniversary Panel (Joint Session with JPC): Gerry Griffin, Glynn Lunney, Frank Van Rensselaer, J.R. Thompson, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, and Bob Sieck
• Joint IECEC/JPC Session: Electrical Power Extraction from Propulsion Systems, Meeting Increasing Demands: Features experts in propulsion and electrical power generation to discuss the issues and effects of supplying large dynamic electrical loads from air-breathing propulsion systems
• Energy Policies for a Green Future: An overview of the current and upcoming policies and activities in government, industry and academia that will lead to more efficient, less polluting energy systems
• Impact of the USAF/SMC Lithium Ion Battery Standard on Future Spacecraft Batteries: A discussion on the issues and implication of the new lithium ion battery standard
• Joint IECEC/JPC Session: Biofuels for Propulsion and Terrestrial Power Generation: A look into biofuel development as it relates to both propulsion and power generation applications

And Much More!

This event will be co-located with the 45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

REGISTRATION

Registering in advance can save conference attendees up to $100. A check made payable to AIAA or credit card information must be included with your registration form. Advance registration forms must be received by 06-Jul-2009. Preregistrants may pick up their materials at the advance registration desk.

Click here to learn more about the conference and to register.

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45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit

2 – 5 Aug 2009
Colorado Convention Center
Denver, Colorado

http://www.aiaa.org/events/jpc

Early Bird Registration Deadline: 6 July 2009

AIAA, ASME, SAE, ASEE, and their industry partners, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, proudly invite you to Denver, Colorado, the Mile High City and Gateway to the Rockies, for the 45th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, 2–5 August 2009.

The 45th JPC will field a strong lineup of keynote addresses, panel discussions, and technical sessions, examining the future of propulsion systems and their ability to meet the demand for “clean aerospace” technology. Highlights of the conference include a panel on the X-51 “Waverider” scramjet aircraft as it prepares for its maiden flight, a review of recent progress in the field of constant volume combustion, an analysis of the future of gas turbine technology, a critical examination of the history of liquid propulsion flight, and a look at the future of hypersonic propulsion systems. Keynote addresses will explore recent innovations in aeronautical and exo-atmospheric propulsion, the future of the Constellation program, and recent innovations in space launch and space propulsion systems.

The design of our next generation flight and space systems will be dependent more than ever on high performance, increasingly efficient, reliable and affordable propulsion systems. Our ability to incorporate new technologies into aircraft and spacecraft will have far reaching impacts to the evolutionary roles these complex systems play in our everyday lives. Our ability to incorporate new technologies into aircraft and spacecraft will have far reaching impacts to the evolutionary roles these complex systems play in our everyday lives. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control invite you to Denver and be a part of the exciting future of the aerospace propulsion industry.

Featured Speakers for 2009

Apollo Anniversary Panel:

• Gerry Griffin – Lead flight director in Mission Control for three lunar landings during the Apollo program, and was an integral part of the team that helped the astronauts of Apollo 13 safely return to Earth after their oxygen tank exploded on their journey to the moon.
• Glynn Lunney – An employee of NASA since its foundation in 1958, Lunney was a flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, and was on duty during historic events such as the Apollo 11 lunar ascent and the pivotal hours of the Apollo 13 crisis.
• Frank Van Rensselaer – Has held various management positions with NASA during a 20-year period culminating at NASA headquarters where he was a charter member of Senior Executive Service, earning two of the three highest NASA awards.
• J.R. Thompson – Was the fifth Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center located in Huntsville, Alabama. He served as Director from September 29, 1986 to July 6, 1989. Thompson also served as NASA’s deputy director from July 6, 1989 to November 8, 1991.
• Harrison “Jack” Schmitt – Played a key role in training Apollo crews to be geologic observers when they were in lunar orbit and competent geologic field workers when they were on the lunar surface. After each of the landing missions, he participated in the examination and evaluation of the returned lunar samples and helped the crews with the scientific aspects of their mission reports.
• Bob Sieck – Joined NASA at the Kennedy Space Center in 1964 as a Gemini Spacecraft Systems engineer. He served as an Apollo Spacecraft test team project engineer, Shuttle Orbiter test team project engineer, and in 1976 was named the Engineering Manager for the Shuttle Approach and Landing tests at Dryden Flight Research Facility in California.

Keynote:Innovation in Aeronautical and Exo-Atmospheric Propulsion :

• Dr. Werner Dahm, USAF Chief Scientist

Keynote:Innovation’s Future-Constellation Initiatives

• Brian Duffy, Lockheed Martin, Vice President Altair Program Manager

Award’s Luncheon Keynote: Innovation in Launch and Space System Propulsion

• Gen. Bob Kehler, USAF Space Command

Why Should You Attend?

Identify and highlight how innovative aerospace propulsion technologies get inserted into both new and evolving systems.

Attend special panel sessions with a focus on advanced system applications that can be used to showcase the propulsion systems, components and technologies that enable them.

REGISTRATION

Registering in advance can save conference attendees up to $100. A check made payable to AIAA or credit card information must be included with your registration form. Advance registration forms must be received by 06-Jul-2009. Preregistrants may pick up their materials at the advance registration desk.

Press Release for JPC: http://intranet.aiaa.org/industryresources/PDF/JPCRelease.pdf

Note seen below is applicable for both conferences:

NASA Conference Restrictions Lifted
NASA participation at technical conferences has been cleared per an April 10 NASA Interim Directive 9312.2. You are invited to read the Acting Administrator’s letter to AIAA. To read the letter, click HERE.

(Source: Daily Mail, UK & The Internet Patrol.com)

Candid Camera: Google Street View captures moment muggers prepared to pounce on teenage victim

Caught red-handed: This image taken by a Google Street View car shows the suspects following the boy down the street before he was attacked - Image Courtesy: Daily Mail Online

Dutch police have arrested two brothers on suspicion of robbery after their alleged victim spotted a picture of them following him on Google’s Street View.

The boy, 14, was mugged last September after two men dragged him of his bike in Groningen, 110 miles north-east of Amsterdam.

His attackers got away with around £140 and his mobile phone. Police were at first unable to track down the suspects.

But the victim contacted them in March after seeing what he believed to be an image of himself and the two men on Street View.

Officers got in touch with Google for the original picture because the people’s faces were blurred.  The company complied, and a robbery squad detective immediately recognised one of the brothers.

Prosecutors will now decide whether to charge the suspects, whose identities were not released.  Click here to read the entire Daily Mail article.

While this story has a happy ending (except for the twins), it does cause one to wonder just how far we are moving towards a big brother state.

Take, for example, this photo caught by the Google Street View camera:

Burgler Caught on Google StreetView Camera - Image via The InternetPatrol.com

Now, perhaps this is a cat burgler. Or perhaps it’s someone who locked themselves out of their house. Or someone just practicing their climbing skills.

If there are burglaries going on in the area, however, what do you think the odds are that this man is going to get hauled in for questioning?

That said, I think that the first big law suit – which could win – over invasion of privacy with respect to Google Earth, will be when a philandering spouse is caught by the other spouse because they happen to see a picture of the philanderer with their paramour on Google Earth, and a messy (and costly) divorce ensues. Or maybe when a wonderful birthday surprise is ruined because the intended giftee accidentally sees the person purchasing the gift during a moment of serendipitous Google Earth browsing.

Since it was launched in 2007, Street View has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide.

But it has drawn complaints from individuals and institutions that have been photographed, including the Pentagon, which barred Google from photographing U.S. military bases for the application.

Mapping North Korean Railways Using Google Earth

An article that appeard on Wired about Google’s hallmark mapping software, Google Earth,  reiterates the above notion that such technologies can aid the big brother, not just on surface of the earth but also do that from miles above the earth.

For all the saber-rattling North Korea has been doing, precious little is known about daily life in the isolated nation. Even a railway map is close to classified information.

North Korean Subway Station - Image Courtesy: Wired

A doctoral student at George Mason University is using satellite images to get a closer look at a historically secretive country. North Korea is once again in the news because of its growing nuclear threat and the imprisoning of two American journalists. By closely examining Google Earth and corroborating physical evidence of infrastructure with reports from visitors and defectors, Curtis Melvin has assembled a workable map of North Korean railways — not to mention hidden palaces and outdoor food markets. The Google Earth overlays are available at his blog, North Korean Economy Watch.

“I am confident I’ve mapped over 90 percent of the system above ground,” Melvin told Wired.com. “There are probably still railway lines in low-resolution areas that I have not been able to find. Additionally, there are likely underground passages that I am unable to map, and the size of these I cannot guess.”

Since Kim Jong-Il is reportedly terrified of flying, Dear Leader travels on a luxurious private train that carries him between “on-the-spot-guidance opportunities.” That’s one thing for which we don’t blame him, considering the state of national airline Air Koryo. According to Melvin, there are special train tracks that carry VIPs to oases of luxury in the impoverished nation. “Several elite compounds have private train stations,” he said. “We can follow the railway lines through the security perimeters and into the elite compounds.”

Melvin has even managed to dig up some dirt on the inscrutable Pyongyang Metro — that’s the system’s Puhung station in the photo. Far from a Potemkin public transit system, the parts of the metro hidden from tourists seem to be less impressive but still functioning. “I have seen a couple of official pictures of other stations. They are much more spartan than the two shown to tourists,” Melvin said.

Click here to read the entire Wired Autopia article.

(Source: Time)

Image Courtesy: USDoD SouthCom - Heron UAV takes off @ Compala Airbase

For weeks, U.S. and Salvadoran counter-narcotics officials had been watching a boat which they suspected was ferrying drugs to and from El Salvador’s Pacific coast. But to be sure, they needed a plane that could stay aloft over the ocean, undetected, long enough to get detailed surveillance imaging. So last month the Defense Department’s Southern Command (Southcom) suggested this would be a good opportunity to help determine whether an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being tested at El Salvador’s Comalapa Air Base might be the future of drug interdiction.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Autoblog & GAO)

Big government’s inefficiency comes in a variety of flavors, and this one could hit your dashboards as early as next year. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S.’ Global Positioning System (GPS) could begin to experience black-outs and general failures next year due to the delays, mismanagement and underinvestment by the U.S. Air force. 

The report’s summary offers the following: The Global Positioning System (GPS), which provides position, navigation, and timing data to users worldwide, has become essential to U.S. national security and a key tool in an expanding array of public service and commercial applications at home and abroad. The United States provides GPS data free of charge. The Air Force, which is responsible for GPS acquisition, is in the process of modernizing GPS. In light of the importance of GPS, the modernization effort, and international efforts to develop new systems, GAO was asked to undertake a broad review of GPS. Specifically, GAO assessed progress in (1) acquiring GPS satellites, (2) acquiring the ground control and user equipment necessary to leverage GPS satellite capabilities, and evaluated (3) coordination among federal agencies and other organizations to ensure GPS missions can be accomplished. To carry out this assessment, GAO’s efforts included reviewing and analyzing program documentation, conducting its own analysis of Air Force satellite data, and interviewing key officials.

It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected. (1) In recent years, the Air Force has struggled to successfully build GPS satellites within cost and schedule goals; it encountered significant technical problems that still threaten its delivery schedule; and it struggled with a different contractor. As a result, the current IIF satellite program has overrun its original cost estimate by about $870 million and the launch of its first satellite has been delayed to November 2009–almost 3 years late. (2) Further, while the Air Force is structuring the new GPS IIIA program to prevent mistakes made on the IIF program, the Air Force is aiming to deploy the next generation of GPS satellites 3 years faster than the IIF satellites. GAO’s analysis found that this schedule is optimistic, given the program’s late start, past trends in space acquisitions, and challenges facing the new contractor. Of particular concern is leadership for GPS acquisition, as GAO and other studies have found the lack of a single point of authority for space programs and frequent turnover in program managers have hampered requirements setting, funding stability, and resource allocation. (3) If the Air Force does not meet its schedule goals for development of GPS IIIA satellites, there will be an increased likelihood that in 2010, as old satellites begin to fail, the overall GPS constellation will fall below the number of satellites required to provide the level of GPS service that the U.S. government commits to. Such a gap in capability could have wide-ranging impacts on all GPS users, though there are measures the Air Force and others can take to plan for and minimize these impacts. In addition to risks facing the acquisition of new GPS satellites, the Air Force has not been fully successful in synchronizing the acquisition and development of the next generation of GPS satellites with the ground control and user equipment, thereby delaying the ability of military users to fully utilize new GPS satellite capabilities. Diffuse leadership has been a contributing factor, given that there is no single authority responsible for synchronizing all procurements and fielding related to GPS, and funding has been diverted from ground programs to pay for problems in the space segment. DOD and others involved in ensuring GPS can serve communities beyond the military have taken prudent steps to manage requirements and coordinate among the many organizations involved with GPS. However, GAO identified challenges in the areas of ensuring civilian requirements can be met and ensuring GPS compatibility with other new, potentially competing global space-based positioning, navigation, and timing systems.

Click here to download the report.  For those who like to read without leaving the page, here is the read-only version of the PDF.

(Source: Times Online, UK)

China demonstrated its growing naval confidence again in the latest standoff between American and Chinese ships.

Photo Courtesy: Frederic J Browne/EPA

The fifth such incident in two months occurred on Friday in the Yellow Sea when a US Navy surveillance ship turned its fire hoses on two Chinese fishing vessels.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the American ship was operating in China’s exclusive economic zone without permission and had violated Chinese and international laws. “We express our concern about this and demand the US side take effective measures to ensure a similar incident does not happen again,” he said.

The USNS Victorious, an ocean surveillance ship designed for anti-submarine warfare and underwater mapping, was conducting what the Pentagon called routine operations in the waters between China and the Korean peninsula. The Chinese vessels came within 100ft (30 metres) of the vessel.

The Pentagon, which accused five Chinese fishing vessels of harassing another US surveillance ship in the South China Sea near Hainan island in March, cited the incident as an example of unsafe Chinese seamanship.

The Chinese vessels did not withdraw until after the Victorious had sounded an alarm and a Chinese military ship, identified by the Pentagon as WAGOR 17, arrived in response to the call for assistance. It shone a light on the fishing vessels until they left.

The Pentagon earlier played down the confrontation, striking a more low-key tone than during the incident two months ago.

A spokesman for the US Defence Department suggested that the United States was looking to avoid the kind of angry exchanges that followed the March incident. He said: “We will be developing a way forward to deal with this diplomatically.”

It was not the first time the Victorious had encountered Chinese boats. On April 7 and April 8, Chinese-flagged fishing vessels approached the ship and the USNS Loyal as they operated within China’s 200-mile economic zone.