A US spy plane was forced to take action to avoid a collision when a Chinese fighter jet appeared in front of the navy aircraft as it flew over the East China Sea, according to the Pentagon.

Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a US Navy EP-3 and flew below the aircraft for a period before one of the Chinese J-10s suddenly emerged in front of the EP-3. The Pentagon, which said the US crew viewed the encounter as dangerous, has raised the aerial incident with the Chinese military. 

The incident, which occurred on Sunday, was the first unsafe encounter reported between US and Chinese military aircraft in two months. In May, the US protested after a Chinese Sukhoi flew upside down above a US “sniffer” aircraft that was looking for traces of nuclear particles as Washington prepared for the possibility that North Korea would conduct a nuclear test.