Japan worried about China and Russia – scrambles fighter planes more frequently

#coldwar #Japan #EastChinaSea #HokkaidoIsland Japan is worried about the activities of its nearest neighbors namely China and Russia and their provocative tactics. Proof of this is in the increase of the number of incidences when Japan Air Force had to scramble its fighter jets.
As reported in news.sky.com dated 15 April 2015, fighter jets scrambled by Japan have soared back to Cold War levels. Japanese warplanes were sent up 943 times in the year to March – this was a 16% increase on the previous year as revealed by the country's Self Defense Force (SDF).

While Chinese fighter incursions are usually localized in the East China Sea, close to disputed uninhabited islands near Taiwan, the Russian bombers and patrol planes usually encroach into Japan's airspace close to the northern Hokkaido Island and in the vicinity of four smaller islands which are claimed by both countries.
Statistically speaking, this is the second highest number of intercept flights ever recorded over a 12-month period ever since records began to be maintained in 1958 and was only one less than a record of 944 scrambles in 1984.
This, taken by itself, cannot be said to be a direct measure of Russian and Chinese military activities in the region but, it does indicate an increase in operations by the two countries and can be presumed to be a reflection of an increasingly assertive China. It has hiked its defense spending by more than 10% a year. Coupled with China is a resurgent Russia following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea last year.
To bring parity, Japan has also hiked defense spending, albeit to a lesser extent, and is buying a range of new military hardware, including longer-range patrol aircraft, cargo jets, helicopter carriers and stealth fighters.

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