Chinese warship drills raise questions about Australia's defence capabilities

Chinese warships were a long way from home when they were spotted in the Tasman Sea this week.

But it's how we found out about the ships that's alarming.

At 9.30am on Friday, Chinese Taskgroup 107 began its live-firing drill in the Tasman Sea, 640 kilometres off Australia's coast.

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Most navies provide air traffic authorities a minimum of eight hours notice for any live-firing exercise to eliminate the risk of accidents.

At the time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed "notice was given" when the live-fire exercise commenced.

But today a Senate Estimates Committee revealed that was not quite right.

Almost half an hour after the drills started, at 9.58am, the Chinese broadcasted an alert of the live-firing exercise.

But it was a Virgin pilot who first informed Australian authorities about the potential risk after spotting the ships.

Airservices Australia then issued a warning to all planes flying across the Tasman to avoid the warships and alerted Defence's Joint Operations Command.

Now, the government and Defence Force are facing serious questions over the nation's defence capabilities.

Watch the full video in the player above.