Japan-US Joint Fighter Flight In Response To Provocation Of CCP, Russia And North Korea

On May 25th, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Japanese and the U.S. forces conducted a joint fighter flight over the Sea of Japan, which involved 8 warplanes based in Japan, including 4 U.S. F-16 fighters and 4 Japanese F-15 fighters.

This flight drill was held hours after North Korea launched three missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The missiles fell into the waters outside the Japanese exclusive economic zone, and there were also concerns about Pyongyang’s other nuclear test.

A source said the joint flight was meant to “confirm combined capabilities of the Japanese Self-Defense Force and the U.S. forces and to strengthen the Japan-US alliance, ensuring both sides have taken “utmost readiness to respond to any emergency.”

It is learnt that while President Biden was meeting with his Japanese counterparts in Tokyo, the CCP and Russia’s strategic bombers conducted a joint flight over the Sea of Japan, representing an “increased level of provocation.”

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said CCP’s H-6 bombers joined Russian Tu-95s over the Sea of Japan and flew to areas over the East China Sea without violating Japanese airspace. Japan also spotted a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance plane flying off the northern Japanese coast, and the Japan-US joint air forces maneuver was an apparent response to CCP and Russia’s aggression.