Japan Takes a Stand: Fighter Jet Fires Warning Flare at Russian Aircraft in Historic Airspace Defense

The General Staff Office of the Ministry of Defense announced on the 23rd that a Russian military patrol plane violated the airspace near Rebun Island in Hokkaido three times in the afternoon. F-15 and F-35 fighter jets of the Air Self-Defense Force rushed and fired flares that interrupted the infrared-guided missiles as a warning. This is the first time that an Air Self-Defense Force aircraft has fired flares in an anti-aircraft violation.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said in an interview at the Defense Ministry in Ichigaya, Tokyo, that the incident was “extremely regrettable” and that he would strongly protest to Russia through diplomatic channels and call for measures to prevent it from happening again. This month, the Russian Navy and the Chinese Navy conducted a joint exercise called “Northern Union-2024” in the Sea of Japan. On the 23rd, a total of eight Chinese and Russian warships set sail together from the Soybean Strait to the Pacific Ocean, and Kihara said, “There is a possibility that there is a connection (with the Russian aircraft violating airspace).” The Defense Ministry explains that firing rockets does not constitute the use of a weapon.

The government has set up an information liaison office at the Cabinet Office Crisis Management Center in the Prime Minister’s Office. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that he had received instructions from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is visiting the United States, to respond calmly and resolutely and to work closely with the countries concerned, including the United States.