The Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces raised their fighters 267 times from April to September to accompany Russian aircraft, which is almost 50% more than in the same period last year.
Such data was published on Saturday on its website by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Self-Defense Forces.
According to him, these were mainly reconnaissance aircraft. It is alleged that their routes of flights ran in the Sea of Japan, in the area of the northern island of Hokkaido and along the northeastern coast of the island of Honshu. At the same time, no violations of Japanese airspace were recorded .
At the same time, the number of sorties of Japanese fighters to intercept Chinese aircraft in the period from April to September decreased by 30% compared with the data for the previous year and amounted to 287 cases. In particular, the Japan Self-Defense Forces pay special attention to the launch of a drone from a Chinese ship in the area of the disputed Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu), which took place on May 18.
«With regard to Chinese aircraft, there is an increase in the number of non-standard flights, there is no decrease in their activity,» the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
In the 2016 fiscal year (April 1, 2016 — March 31, 2017 — TASS note), fighters of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces carried out a record high number of sorties to intercept aircraft of foreign countries — 1168. More than 850 of them were made in connection with the approach of the PRC aviation to the borders of Japan , 301 — for escorting Russian aircraft.
