A Chinese aircraft has breached Japanese airspace for the first time, resulting in the scrambling of fighters to ward off the intruder.
The incident occurred on 26 August and involved a Shaanxi Y-9, according to the Japan Ministry of Defense (JMOD).
A JMOD image suggests the aircraft was a Y-9Z, an electronic support measures/electronic intelligence aircraft based on the Y-9 tactical transport.
The airspace violation was brief, taking place between 11:29-11:31 in the morning off the Oshima Islands off Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture.
The JMOD says that fighters were launched, and measures included “issuing notifications and warnings”.
Media reports suggest that Boeing F-15 and Mitsubishi F-2 fighters were involved in intercepting the Chinese aircraft.
According to Japan’s foreign affairs ministry, China’s charge d’ affairs was summoned, and a “severe protest lodged”.
While the airspace incursion was unusual, Japan routinely posts notifications about Chinese aircraft and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) operating near its airspace.
China and Russia have also conducted joint bomber patrols near Japan.
The Y-9Z intrusion is but the latest in a long string of incursions by Chinese aircraft against neighbouring countries.
Throughout 2024, Chinese fighters, reconnaissance aircraft, and UAVs have continued to probe the airspace around Taiwan.
On 26 August, the same day of the Japan incursion, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that it detected 15 Chinese military aircraft near its airspace, of which nine crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that divides the two countries.
The incursions against Taiwan have been a regular occurrence in years, including an increased tendency to cross the median line.
In addition, Chinese aircraft operating over international waters in the South China Sea have sometimes harassed aircraft from other countries.
In early August, a Chinese fighter – either a Sukhoi Su-27/30 or Shenyang J-11/J-16 – conducted an unsafe intercept of an Indonesian Aerospace NC212i tactical transport operated by the Philippine air force over Scarborough Shoal.
During the incident, the Chinese aircraft dropped flares in front of the NC212i.
