Japan Fighters Scramble for Russian Bombers

Japan Fighters Scramble for Russian Bombers (NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - October 9, 2008: Six Japanese jets scrambled Oct. 8 as two Russian military planes came close to Japanese airspace, a defense ministry official said. The two Russian planes flew close to Japanese airspace over the Sea of Japan from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., a defense ministry official told AFP, confirming Russian media reports.

JASDF F-15J

"The defense ministry decided to deploy six Air Self-Defence Force planes, including F-15s, for a scramble," she said, using officially pacifist Japan's name for its armed forces. "We dealt with it as we usually do," she said. Russian media said the Russian planes were on a training mission and spotted four Japanese fighters. "Four Japanese air force F-15 fighters escorted the strategic aviation crews as they flew over the Sea of Japan," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik was quoted as saying by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies. Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets were sent up to join the bombers after the Japanese intercept to ensure that the Russian Tu-22 bombers, known in NATO parlance as "Backfire" bombers, completed their mission as planned, he said. He added that the two U.S.-made F-15 Japanese fighters had been scrambled from separate bases in Japan to keep an eye on the Russian aircraft. Japan, a close U.S. ally, has uneasy relations with Russia due to a dispute over four islands off Japan's northern coast seized by Soviet troops in 1945. Russian strategic bomber patrols stopped with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. After a 16-year gap, Moscow announced last year it would resume such flights around the world, citing a need to train crews and respond to similar U.S. flights near Russian borders that were never suspended. "All flights by air force planes have been, and are being, carried out in strict compliance with international law in airspace over neutral waters and not violating borders of other states," Drik said.