Japanese Ministry of Defense has reported that the country’s Air Self-Defense Force scrambled its fighter jets to intercept Russian and Chinese helicopters.Â
According to a recent ministry release, fighter jets were scrambled due to the take-off of Russian and Chinese helicopters from the decks of military warships which circle around the Japanese border.
In a release, Japanese military said that the Russian Ka-27 and Chinese Ka-28 anti-submarine warfare helicopters have passed 50-100 kilometers from the Japanese island of Sumisu (Smith Island), while passing through the Tsugaru Strait, and five Chinese and five Russian warships descended to the eastern side of Honshu Island.
The Chinese-Russian joint naval flotilla that transited the Tsugaru Strait days ago has since sailed along the east side of Japan’s main island to its south, almost making a circle around the island country, in a move Chinese experts said on Friday can bring “balance” to regional stability at a time when the US, Japan and other Western forces have been colluding to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region.
The joint Russian-Chinese military exercises entitled “Maritime Cooperation 2021” were held from October 14 to 18 in the Sea of Japan.
