Japan says it used flares after a Russian jet ignored a radio warning to force an Il-38 reconnaissance aircraft to leave its airspace.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense, as reports The Guardian reported that An unknown number of F-15 and F-35 military jets were scrambled and fired flares on Monday, September 23, after a Russian Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft apparently ignored their radio warnings.
It was the first publicly announced airspace intrusion by a Russian aircraft since June 2019, when a Tu-95 bomber entered Japanese airspace over southern Okinawa and around the Izu Islands south of Tokyo, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.
According to the Minister of Defense, The Russian plane violated Japanese airspace three times over Rebun Island, off the coast of the country's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, during its five-hour flight in the area. He stated:
“The violation of airspace is extremely unfortunate. We have lodged a very serious protest with the Russian government through diplomatic channels today and strongly urged them to prevent a recurrence.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called on officials to respond to the incident “firmly and calmly” and cooperate with the United States and other countries. Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said:
“We will refrain from providing any definitive information about the intentions and purpose of this action, but the Russian military has been active near our country since the invasion of Ukraine.”
Minoru Kihara stated that The use of flares is a legitimate response to airspace violationsand “we plan to use them without hesitation.”
The intrusion came a day after a combined fleet of Chinese and Russian warships sailed around Japan's northern coast. Kihara said the airspace violation could be linked to joint military exercises that Russia and China announced earlier this month.
The US Department of Defense previously said it would spend more than $10 billion over the next few years to upgrade tactical warplanes stationed in Japan.
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