Russia and China step up spy flights near Japan

China and Russia sent military intelligence aircraft toward Japan on four consecutive days this week, prompting the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighters each day, as two Chinese Y-9 aircraft crossed the gap between Okinawa and Miyako-jima into the Pacific on Oct. 20 and 21 and Russian IL-20 aircraft flew over the Sea of Japan to waters off Shimane Prefecture on Oct. 22 and 23, Japan’s Joint Staff said.

In all, Japan tracked five flights over the four days: three by Chinese Y-9s and two by Russian IL-20s. No violations of Japanese airspace were reported.

The Y-9 is a Chinese four-engine turboprop built in several military versions, including maritime patrol and electronic intelligence variants.

The IL-20 is a Russian turboprop modified to collect electronic and signals intelligence.

On the morning of Oct. 20, a Chinese Y-9 patrol aircraft flew in from the East China Sea, passed between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako-jima into the Pacific and continued to waters off Amami Oshima before turning back and returning the same way toward mainland China. That afternoon, a second Y-9, an intelligence-gathering aircraft, flew a round trip over the East China Sea between waters south of the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture and an area northwest of Okinawa’s main island. The Air Self-Defense Force’s Southwestern Air Defense Force scrambled fighters in response.

A Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft flew the same route on Oct. 21, crossing between Okinawa and Miyako-jima, flying to waters off Amami Oshima and returning through the gap toward the mainland, and Southwestern Air Defense Force fighters again scrambled.

Russia then flew the same mission on back-to-back days. On both Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, a Russian IL-20 flew in from the direction of the mainland, crossed the Sea of Japan to waters off Shimane Prefecture on Honshu’s western coast, then turned around and headed back. Each time, the Air Self-Defense Force’s Northern Air Defense Force and other units scrambled fighters.

The flights came as the United States and Japan hold Keen Sword, a large-scale joint exercise running from Oct. 19 to 29 for which Japan planned to commit about 45,000 personnel, 260 aircraft and 40 vessels. They also followed operations by China’s Liaoning carrier group, which passed between Okinawa and Miyako-jima on Oct. 14 and conducted fighter takeoffs and landings about 250 km (155 miles) south of Ishigaki-jima, prompting another Air Self-Defense Force scramble.

The waters between Okinawa and Miyako-jima form one of the main routes Chinese military ships and aircraft use to move between the East China Sea and the Pacific.

Japan’s Joint Staff publishes reports on foreign military aircraft that approach Japan and draw a fighter scramble, and its releases for Oct. 20 through 23 do not say whether the Chinese and Russian flights are connected.