[World Article] Japan reports record number of interceptions of Chinese, Russian aircraft

Military Capabilities On 6 October Tokyo released an image of what appears to be a Sukhoi Su-24MR 'Fencer-E' reconnaissance platform intercepted by JASDF aircraft over the Sea of Japan. Source: Japanese Ministry of Defence

Japan launched a record number of scrambles to intercept Russian and Chinese aircraft operating over adjacent waters in the six months to 30 September.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) launched 533 interceptions in the first half of fiscal year 2014 (FY 2014), compared with 308 in the first six months of FY 2013 (April-September 2013). The total number of interceptions in FY 2013 was 810, itself an increase compared with 567 in FY 2012 and 425 in FY 2011.

The six-month total is the largest since the Japanese Ministry of Defence began releasing such data in 2003, a Joint Staff Office (JSO) statement said.

The majority of intercepted aircraft were Russian: 324 aircraft compared with 136 in the same period in the previous year. The number of Chinese military aircraft intercepted while approaching or flying near Japanese airspace also increased from 149 to 207.

The JSO statement said that most of the Chinese aircraft intercepted were fighter aircraft while the majority of Russian aircraft were reconnaissance and surveillance platforms. By coincidence, however, on 6 October the JSO released a separate statement on the interception over the Sea of Japan of what appears to be a Sukhoi Su-24MR 'Fencer-E': a reconnaissance platform derived from the Su-24M strike aircraft.

 ANALYSIS   Japanese Radar Coverage

The data shows that aircrews in the Northern Air Defense Force and Southern Air Defense Force areas were the busiest, which is unsurprising given that these two areas cover Russian and Chinese approaches to the Japanese home islands.

The overall trend towards Cold War levels of air interceptions by JASDF fast jets supports moves by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to increase defence spending and adopt what he calls a "dynamic defence" posture that is more assertive about Japanese territorial security. The 810 interceptions in FY 2013 (April 2013 to March 2014) were the high number over a 12-month period since the 812 interceptions in 1989.

What is of the particular interest is the repeated patrolling by Russian aircraft of one area of the Sea of Japan in April and May 2014. The area lies about halfway between Japan and North Korea; on 16 October a Japanese defence official said he agreed with IHS Jane's hypotheses that Russia was monitoring the recent installation of an AN/TPY-2 mobile X-band phased-array missile defence radar at Kyogamisaki in Kyoto Prefecture.

The AN-TPY-2 is a X-band, high-resolution, phased-array radar designed by Raytheon for ballistic missile defence. Part of the US Army Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system, it has a range of 1,000 km and provides early warning of theatre ballistic missile launches by detecting and acquiring targets at very long ranges using autonomous search fences and volume search strategies.

The AN/TPY-2 at Kyogamisaki is the second system to be deployed in Japan: another is at Shariki in Aomori Prefecture. Both are intended to provide early warning of North Korean ballistic missile launches.

"The reason they come to us is to check our capabilities," the Japanese defence official said of the patrols close to Kyogamisaki, before adding that he thought the massive increase in Russian activity around Japan was also linked to the situation in Ukraine.

"They are also investing more in airfields and equipment" in the Far East, he said, but the main purpose of the air patrols was "to send a message" to Japan and its US ally, he said.

  ♞ IHS Janes