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World War 3 could be one step closer after Japan was forced to fire flares at a Russian jet.
According to reports in Russian media, Japanese fighter jets fired flares towards a Russian aircraft after being spotted in Japan's airspace. Several F-15 and F-35 fighter jets were seen scrambling towards a Russian jet, with flares being fired on Monday. It has been claimed that it was a Russian Il-38 patrol plane which is said to have “ignored warnings” but the exact location it entered into Japan has not been declared.
Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said: “The airspace violation is extremely regrettable, and today we have sent a very strong protest to the Russian government through diplomatic channels and urged them not to allow it to happen again.”
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Kihara also said the use of flares was a legitimate response to airspace violation and “we plan to use it without hesitation.”
And Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said: “We will refrain from providing any specific information about the intentions and purposes of these actions, but the Russian military is actively operating near our country.”
No comment has been made by Russian leaders as yet, but Japanese defence officials are highly concerned about growing military cooperation between the China and Russia, and China’s increasingly assertive activity around Japanese waters and airspace. It led Tokyo to significantly reinforce defences of southwestern Japan, including remote islands that are considered key to Japan’s defence strategy in the region.
According to Japan’s military, it scrambled jets nearly 669 times between April 2023 and March 2024, about 70% of the time against Chinese military aircraft, though that did not include airspace violations.
Japan and Russia are in a territorial dispute over a group of Russian-held islands, which the former Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II. The feud has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their war hostilities.
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