Japan scrambles fighters to escort Russian military aircraft near its borders
As reported by Interfax, referring to the self-defense headquarters of Japan, two Russian Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine aircraft were flying over the Sea of Japan from south to north along the coast of the Honshu and Hokkaido islands. Afterwards, they allegedly turned around and followed a similar route back. Japan did not register any airspace violations.
In June, it was reported in Tokyo that Japanese fighter jets took off to intercept two Il-38 anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the Pacific Fleet.
The Russian aircraft allegedly approached Japanese airspace from Sakhalin and flew over the South Kuril Islands. The aircraft then circled around to the south of Honshu and returned via the same route.
In April 2015, Japan reported a record level of activity of Russian military aircraft.