Japan sends fighter jets to fire warning missiles at Russian spy plane to leave airspace

Japan said its warplanes used warning missiles to warn a Russian reconnaissance plane to leave northern Japanese airspace on Monday.

The Russian Il-38 aircraft violated Japanese airspace over Rebun Island, off the coast of the country’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, for up to a minute on three occasions during its five-hour flight in the area, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters.

It came a day after a joint fleet of Chinese and Russian warships sailed around Japan’s northern coast. Kihara said the airspace violation may have been linked to joint military drills announced by Russia and China earlier this month.

Kihara said Japan sent an unknown number of F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, which used warning signals for the first time after the Russian aircraft apparently ignored their warnings.

“The violation of airspace is extremely regrettable,” Kihara said, adding that Japan had “strongly protested” to Russia through diplomatic channels and demanded preventive measures.

“We will carry out warning and monitoring operations while closely monitoring their military activities,” he said.

Kihara said the use of flares was a legitimate response to the airspace violation and “we plan to use it without hesitation.”

Japanese defense officials are deeply concerned about growing military cooperation between China and RussiaIncreased Chinese activity around Japanese waters and airspace has also prompted Tokyo to significantly bolster its defenses in southwestern Japan, including remote islands that are key to Japan’s defense strategy in the region.

Earlier in September, Russian military aircraft flew over Japan’s southern airspace. A Chinese Y-9 reconnaissance plane briefly flew over violated southern japan airspace In late August.

The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, sailed between Japan’s westernmost Yonaguni Island and nearby Iriomote Island, entering close to Japanese waters.

According to the Japanese military, it scrambled its jets approximately 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, about 70% of the time against Chinese military aircraft, although this did not include airspace violations.

Japan and Russia are in a territorial dispute over a group of Russian-controlled islands that the former Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II. The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty that would formally end their war.

Russian and Chinese military activity near Alaska has also increased. Earlier this month, the U.S. military moved about 130 troops and mobile missile launchers to a deserted island in the Aleutian Islands chain in western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military aircraft and ships approaching U.S. territory.

Eight Russian military aircraft and four naval ships, including two submarinesRussian forces have approached Alaska in recent days as Russia and China conduct joint military exercises.

In July, two Russian Tu-95s and two Chinese H-6s entered the Alaskan air defense identification zone, Norad saidA US defense official confirmed to CBS News that US F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, along with Canadian CF-18s and other support aircraft, intercepted the bombers.