China and Russia push Japan’s jet scrambles to 4-year high

Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets 442 times between April 1 and Sept. 30, about two-thirds more than the 265 scrambles in the same period last year, according to Joint Staff Office figures reported by USNI News. The rise came as Chinese and Russian military aircraft flew near Japan far more often, and the six-month total for the first half of Japan’s 2026 fiscal year is the highest first-half count since fiscal 2022, when JASDF fighters launched 446 times.

None of the flights crossed into Japanese sovereign airspace, and the report lists no airspace violations during the period. Japan scrambles fighters against foreign aircraft approaching the country and entering its Air Defense Identification Zone, a monitoring area that reaches well past the 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial limit into international airspace.

Chinese aircraft and drones accounted for 285 scrambles, or about 65 percent, up from 198 a year earlier. The sharper change came from Russia, as JASDF fighters launched 152 times against Russian aircraft compared with 59 in the first half of fiscal 2025, which is more than in the first half of any of the four previous fiscal years listed in the report. The remaining five scrambles were classed as “other.”

The Joint Staff Office pointed to three patterns behind the numbers: Russian Il-20 intelligence-gathering flights over the Sea of Japan and the Pacific, Chinese Y-9 intelligence flights over the East China Sea, and long-range joint flights by Chinese H-6 and Russian Tu-95 bombers. Japan reported Y-9 flights on five consecutive days from Sept. 3 to Sept. 7, after we reported on an Aug. 12 Y-9 sortie through the same corridor between the Danjo Islands and Okinawa.

The southwest, which faces Taiwan and the East China Sea, remained the busiest sector, with the Southwestern Air Defense Force logging 201 scrambles against 189 a year earlier. The Northern Air Defense Force, which covers Hokkaido and northern Honshu opposite Russia’s Sakhalin Island, more than doubled its count from 53 to 112. The Central Air Defense Force rose from nine to 27.

The steepest jump came in the Western Air Defense Force, which covers Kyushu, Shikoku and western Honshu and went from 14 scrambles to 102. USNI News, citing the Joint Staff flight-path map, attributed the increase to Chinese activity over the East China Sea and to Russian aircraft flying from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea to link up with Chinese formations.

The largest single event came on June 27, when two H-6 bombers and two J-16 fighters flew from the East China Sea into the Sea of Japan. There they joined two Russian Tu-95 bombers, two Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft and a Su-35 fighter. The combined group flew back to the East China Sea, where the Russian bombers and patrol aircraft met another two H-6s and four J-16s, passed between Okinawa and Miyako Island and continued on a long-range flight over the Pacific south of Shikoku.

South Korea also scrambled fighters that day after nearly 10 Chinese and Russian aircraft entered and left its own air defense zone, and Seoul lodged a protest with both countries the next day. It was the first joint bomber flight around Japan since a December 2025 mission that paired two Tu-95s with two H-6s and eight J-16s. Beijing and Moscow describe such patrols as normal cooperation, while Japan’s 2026 defense white paper says repeated joint activities are “obviously intended as demonstration activities against Japan.”

The report also lists 25 publicly announced cases of unusual flight activity during the six months. Chinese Y-9 flights account for 13 of them, twice accompanied by a TB-001 reconnaissance and strike drone, while Russian Il-20 flights appear 10 times. The only other bomber entry covers July 21, when a single Tu-95 and a Su-35 flew over the Sea of Japan.

The surge follows a quieter year. Japan recorded 595 scrambles in all of fiscal 2025, including 214 against Russian aircraft, and monthly counts climbed late in that year, reaching 79 in December 2025. That same month, Japan accused J-15 fighters from the carrier Liaoning of directing their radar at two JASDF F-15s southeast of Okinawa.

The pace held through the summer, with 90 scrambles in July and 76 in August, as Chinese intelligence aircraft and drones and Russian intelligence planes kept up flights around Japan.