Chinese Military Aircraft Targets ASDF Jets with Radar

Tokyo, Dec. 7 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that Chinese military aircraft intermittently locked its radar onto Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets twice over the high seas of the western Pacific southeast of the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Saturday afternoon. No personnel were injured and no ASDF aircraft were damaged in the incident. “It is a dangerous act that exceeds the range necessary for safe aircraft operations and is extremely regrettable,” Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said at a press conference in the small hours of Sunday. The Japanese government lodged a strong protest with China through both diplomatic and defense channels, demanding strict measures to prevent a recurrence. This is the first time the ministry has publicly disclosed radar lock-on by a foreign aircraft of an SDF aircraft. According to the ministry, a J-15 fighter jet took off from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, which was sailing about 270 kilometers west of Okidaito Island in Okinawa, intermittently locked its radar onto multiple F-15 fighter jets scrambled from the ASDF Naha Air Base in Okinawa. The incident occurred for about three minutes until around 4:35 p.m. Saturday and again for about 30 minutes until around 7:08 p.m. the same day, the ministry said. The F-15 fighter jets were scrambled in response to a potential intrusion into Japan’s airspace. The radar was directed from a distance where the aircraft could not be visually confirmed, and there was no violation of Japanese airspace. In January 2013, a Chinese navy frigate in the East China Sea directed its fire-control radar at a Maritime SDF destroyer. In June and July of this year, incidents also occurred where Chinese military aircraft made abnormally close approaches to SDF aircraft conducting surveillance. The latest incident occurred at a time when relations between Japan and China have been strained following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks that a Taiwan contingency could create a situation that threatens Japan’s survival and allows the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]