Japanese combat aircraft employ decoy flares to signal a Russian surveillance aircraft to depart its territorial airspace.
Tokyo, Japan (AP)— Japan asserted that its fighter jets deployed flare warnings towards a Russian surveillance plane intruding into northern Japanese airspace on Monday.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara confirmed that the Russian Il-38 plane penetrated Japanese airspace above Rebun Island, a small island situated off the coast of Hokkaido, the country's northernmost main island, for up to a minute in three separate instances, during its five-hour voyage in the region.
The incident occurred a day after a joint fleet of Chinese and Russian warships circumnavigated Japanese northern coasts. Kihara speculated that the airspace violation could be associated with a joint military exercise announced by Russia and China earlier this month.
Japan dispatched an undisclosed number of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, employing flare warnings for the first time, after the Russian aircraft reportedly disregarded their warnings, according to Kihara.
“The intrusion into Japanese airspace was deeply regrettable,” Kihara expressed. He conveyed Japan’s strong condemnation to Russia through diplomatic channels and requested preventive measures.
“We will carry out our warning and surveillance operations while closely monitoring their military activities,” Kihara stated.
Kihara reaffirmed that the use of flares was an appropriate response to airspace violation and "we will utilize it unwaveringly."
Japanese defense officials harbor concerns over escalating military cooperation between China and Russia, as well as China's increasingly assertive behavior near Japanese waters and airspace. Consequently, Tokyo augmented the defenses of southwestern Japan, including remote islands crucial for Japan's regional defense strategy.
Previously in September, Russian military aircraft encircled southern Japanese airspace. A Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance aircraft momentarily breached Japan’s southern airspace in late August.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, navigated between Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni and Iriomote, venturing into close proximity to Japan's waters.
As per Japan's military, it dispatched jets over 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, with approximately 70% of the instances involving Chinese military aircraft, although airspace violations were not included in the count.
Japan and Russia are engaged in a territorial dispute over a cluster of Russian-controlled islands, which the former Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II. The ongoing disagreement has thwarted both countries from signing a peace treaty formally bring an end to their wartime hostilities.
The incident with the Russian plane in Japanese airspace has raised concerns about increasing military cooperation between Russia and China, as these two countries are becoming more assertive in Asia's strategic waters and airspace. The world is closely watching how this situation between Japan, Russia, and China will unfold.
