Japanese Fighter Jets Scramble 358 Times in Fiscal 1st Half

Tokyo, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets scrambled 358 times for possible airspace violations in the fiscal first half ended last month, a decrease of 66 from a year before and the lowest first-half figure in the past five years, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Despite the decrease in scrambles, the ministry sees no change in active military activities by China and Russia near Japan. The country will "take strict and necessary steps depending on conditions," it said.

The number of scrambles against Chinese military aircraft declined by 63 to 241. There were 115 scrambles against Russian aircraft, an increase of five.

In August, a Chinese surveillance plane flew over the sea off the Danjo Islands in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Nagasaki, the first violation of Japanese airspace by a Chinese military aircraft.

In September, ASDF fighter jets used flares for the first time to warn a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which violated Japanese airspace three times north of Rebun Island in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]