Japan fighter jet scrambles against foreign aircraft soar on China, Russia tensions
- Air Self-Defence Force conducted 1,004 scrambles of its aircraft against foreign planes in the year through March, the second-highest level on record
- The scrambles in response to Chinese and Russian aircraft were 722 and 266, respectively
The figure for scrambles by Air Self-Defence Force jets in the year through March followed 1,168 in fiscal 2016, the record high since Japan began releasing comparable data in fiscal 1958.
There were 722 scrambles in response to Chinese aircraft, up from 458 in the previous year and also the second-highest number.
Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi cited Beijing’s “intensified activities considered to be intelligence gathering” as a factor, adding such flights had become “diversified and sophisticated.”
“In China, moves to rapidly develop unmanned aircraft have been seen,” Kishi told a press conference.
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By area, the Southwestern Air Defence Force was involved in 652 cases, the most among the ASDF’s four divisions. The force is headquartered in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa and oversees areas including the disputed islands known in Japan as the Senkakus but in China as the Diaoyus.
China coastguard ships have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited Diaoyus.
The number of scrambles against Russian aeroplanes was second after China at 266, up from 258 in fiscal 2020.
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Russian planes violated Japanese airspace in September and March, both times off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, according to the ministry.
The ministry said it had also confirmed a joint flight by Chinese and Russian bombers over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Pacific in November.
Scrambles are conducted to deter foreign aircraft from entering a nation’s airspace.
