It’s hard to call the collision of two multi-thousand-ton military ships “fortunate,” but that’s exactly what analysts are saying about the incident in the South China Sea this week that left a China Coast Guard ship with a heavily damaged bow after it hit a People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer.

The Philippine military has blamed China for a collision between two Chinese navy and coast guard ships in disputed waters

Australia has launched its largest military exercises with Philippine forces, involving over 3,600 personnel in live-fire drills and a beach assault.