The Japan Air Self Defense Force intercepted a Chinese military surveillance aircraft in the Sea of Japan on October 29.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled fighter jets to intercept a People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) Shaanxi Y-9JB (GX-8) electronic warfare and surveillance plane crossing the Sea of Japan and East China Sea on October 29, Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) reported earlier this week.
This marks the fourth time that Japan dispatched fighter jet to intercept and escort a PLANAF Y-9JB spy plane in recent months. The last intercept occurred on August 29. A previous Y-9jB intercept took place on July 27. In both cases the PLANAF aircraft was intercepted while traversing Sea of Japan and East China Sea. Furthermore, a Y-9JB flying through international airspace between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako was intercepted in June.
In neither of the four Chinese spying missions did the PLANAF Y-9JB aircraft, an upgraded variant of the first-generation Y-8DZ and Y-8G electronic reconnaissance planes, violate Japanese airspace, according to the MoD. As I reported previously, although the MOD usually does not reveal the aircraft type, intercepts are normally conducted by two JASDF aircraft types:
The JASDF usually dispatches Mitsubishi F-15J all-weather air superiority fighters, 215 of which — including the upgraded F-15DJ/F-15J Kai variants — are currently operationally deployed with the service.
