Two Russian nuclear bombers have flown their first long-range sorties of the year in contested waters bordering Japan and South Korea, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry, just days after a Chinese spy drone flew a similar pattern for the first time.
The Joint Staff of Japan's Self-Defense Forces said it scrambled interceptors to head off Russian air force Tu-95 strategic bombers and two unidentified Russian fighter escorts during the patrol on April 2, disclosed in a press release the following day.
The Sea of Japan borders North and South Korea, and both countries call it the East Sea. It is home to Russia's Pacific Fleet in the Peter the Great Gulf, where the Russian navy has recently stepped up springtime drills. Russia's Defense Ministry could not be reached for comment.
A Newsweek map, based on the Japanese Defense Ministry's geospatial data, shows the four Russian warplanes approaching Japan's main island of Honshu from the Asian continent before turning west and later returning to their point of origin.
Japan said its Air Self-Defense Force fighter aircraft were launched to prevent a possible airspace violation. However, Russia's sorties appeared to have been conducted within international airspace, and were likely a continuation of ongoing maneuvers in the region.
The Soviet-designed Tu-95—capable of launching cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads—has flown since the mid-1950s. The airframe family has spawned over a dozen variants, one of which dropped the thermonuclear "Tsar Bomba"—the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested—in 1961.
Russian Tu-95s, which are known by the NATO reporting name Bear, were last seen in the Sea of Japan in mid-December. They flew alongside Chinese H-6 bombers and other escorts as part of a major joint exercise that alarmed the United States and its allies at the time.
Chinese aircraft and warships, which were detected in the Sea of Japan last month, are expected to take part in bilateral drills this summer.
Tokyo publishes regular updates on the movements of Russian and Chinese forces near the borders of its sprawling archipelago. In late March, it disclosed the first publicly reported sortie in the Sea of Japan by China's WZ-7 unmanned aircraft.
The Chinese reconnaissance drone, like the Russian bombers last week, flew a circular route from the Asian mainland above the waters before returning in a northwesterly direction.
China has no borders with the sea, suggesting the drone likely used North Korean or Russian airspace.
The Chinese Defense Ministry and the North Korean Embassy in Beijing did not return separate written requests for comment about the maneuver.
Separately last week, Japan's Joint Staff disclosed the movements of Russia's Vishnya-class intelligence-gathering ship the Kareliya, which had patrolled near the shores of various Japanese islands for 10 days, including during the Chinese WZ-7's sortie.
Also spotted was the Chinese navy's Type 815A, or Dongdiao-class, electronic surveillance ship the Jinxing. It returned to the East China Sea via the Tsushima Strait following operations in the Sea of Japan since mid-March, the Japanese government said.
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John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
