Japan Fighter Scrambles Up to 446 Times in April-Sept.

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Air-Self Defense Force fighters scrambled 446 times to warn against airspace violations in the April-September first half of fiscal 2022, up 56 times from a year before, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

JASDF fighters responded to Chinese aircraft 340 times, up 59 times, and to Russian airplanes 95 times, down seven times.

With the rising number of cases with Chinese airplanes, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a press conference Friday that Japan will closely monitor Chinese activities and take measures against airspace violations strictly.

Chinese aircraft took off from and landed on the Chinese military's Liaoning aircraft carrier more than 100 times south of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa in May and also increased activities around Taiwan, the ministry said.

An unmanned Chinese reconnaissance airplane flying without being accompanied by a manned plane was confirmed for the first time, the ministry said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]