(My latest for JDW) Japan sees in Chinese air incursions almost triple

ASIA PACIFIC

Date Posted: 20-Jan-2012

Jane's Defence Weekly

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Japan sees in Chinese air incursions almost triple

Kosuke Takahashi JDW Correspondent
Tokyo
Japan's Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 19 January that Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) interceptions of Chinese military aircraft in Japanese airspace had nearly tripled from April to December 2011 compared with the previous nine months.
Japan scrambled fighter aircraft 335 times, 45 more times than in the same period of 2010. It scrambled 143 times against Chinese aircraft, compared with 48 in the previous nine months.
Japan also scrambled fighters 175 times against Russia - 45 times fewer than the same period in 2010, but still the most by nationality - and five times against Taiwanese aircraft, along with 12 times against unspecified aircraft. The Joint Staff Office of the MoD said that while it counted JASDF scrambles, these did not necessarily correspond to confirmed airspace incursions.

COMMENT

The JASDF's increases interceptions of Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force aircraft reflects increasing attempts by China to gather signals intelligence from the air near the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. The islands are controlled by Japan, but claimed by China and Taiwan.

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