TOKYO (AP) – Japanese and US forces have launched a joint fighter jet flight over the Sea of Japan, Japan’s defense ministry said Thursday, in a clear response to a joint bomber flight between Russia and China while US President Joe Biden was in Tokyo.
The joint flight between Japan and the US on Wednesday was intended to “confirm the combined capabilities of the Japanese SDF and US forces and further strengthen the Japan-US alliance,” the Japanese Self-Defense Force’s Joint Staff said. To respond to any emergencies, we are taking the utmost readiness.”
The flight was also held hours after North Korea fired three missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, toward the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, amid concerns over another nuclear test by Pyongyang. The missiles fell into waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Chinese and Russian strategic bombers conducted joint flights near Japan on Tuesday, Japan’s defense ministry said, as Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and their counterparts from India and Australia in front of the Quad, an Indo-Pacific security – and economic coalition intended as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in the region.
Chinese H-6 bombers joined Russian TU-95s over the Sea of Japan and flew to areas over the East China Sea, but did not violate Japanese airspace, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said. Separately, a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft was seen flying off the northern coast of Japan.
The Sino-Russian joint flight posed an “increased level of provocation” and a threat to the Quad, Kishi said later Tuesday.
The Chinese Defense Ministry said the Chinese and Russian military have conducted joint strategic air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the Western Pacific Ocean.
Wednesday’s joint flight between Japan and the US involved eight fighter jets in Japan, including four US F-16 fighters and four Japanese F-15s, the Japanese Joint Staff said.
