In an unprecedented development, a Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering military aircraft entered Japanese airspace for the first time, forcing the Japanese Self-Defense Air Force (JSDAF) to scramble fighter jets in response to the violation. 

Strongly condemning the move, the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated that one of the Chinese military’s Y-9 intelligence-gathering planes briefly entered Japanese territory near the Danjo Islands off Nagasaki Prefecture on August 26 between 11:29 and 11:31 am.

In a statement released after the incident, the ministry stated that the Chinese aircraft was “confirmed to have violated the territorial airspace of the Danjo Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture” and that it had dispatched “fighter jets on an emergency basis.” The Danjo Islands are a collection of tiny islets in the southern Nagasaki region of Japan in the East China Sea.

The ministry claimed that the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces (JSDAF) took action and “issued warnings” to the aircraft. However, according to a report by NHK, a Japanese broadcasting company, no weaponry, including flare guns, was deployed in the alert.

This is the first-ever intrusion by a Chinese military aircraft into the Japanese airspace.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

While China has not commented on the intrusion, Japan’s vice minister for foreign affairs, Masataka Okano, summoned the charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to lodge a “firm protest.”

The ministry emphasized to the Chinese officials the importance of ensuring that such an incident does not happen again. In response, the Chinese officials stated that they “would report the matter to their home country.”

The intrusion comes amid heightened Chinese military activity near Japan in recent times. In March, a Chinese WZ-7 high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) undertook flight maneuvers over the Sea of Japan.

In May, the WL-10, a state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicle designed for high-altitude, long-duration missions, completed flights over the East China Sea. In both instances, the JSDAF deployed its fighter jets.

China and Japan remain marred in a territorial dispute involving the Senkaku Islands. In the past, Chinese fishing boats and Japanese coastguard vessels have clashed on the isolated group of islands, escalating diplomatic tensions. Two Chinese non-military aircraft—a propeller plane and a tiny drone—entered Japanese airspace close to the Senkaku islands in 2012 and 2017, respectively.

Although China frequently deploys military planes over the East China Sea into international airspace, this is the first time Japan has openly acknowledged a territorial airspace violation. Some observers suggested that the move may have been intended to test Japan’s fighter jet capabilities and measure its reaction time.

Additionally, the specific type of military aircraft heightens the importance of the intrusion—it’s an intelligence-gathering aircraft that Japan has previously observed during a rise in Chinese electronic warfare and intelligence operations near Taiwan.

China’s Y-9 Aircraft

The Y-9 is a PLA Air Force transport aircraft that has been upgraded and modified to conduct a wide range of operations, including intelligence gathering and electronic warfare.

In June 2023,  the Japanese MoD announced that it had, for the first time, identified a new class of Chinese Y-9 intelligence-collecting aircraft approaching Japan’s airspace south of the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa prefecture.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

At that time, several Chinese military analysts identified the Chinese Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft as the Y-9DZ aircraft. The aircraft, which replaces the Y-8 medium transport aircraft, is believed to be China’s recently produced electronic warfare (EW) version of the Y-9 aircraft.

Earlier this month, reports indicated that a Y-9 intelligence-gathering aircraft was circling Taiwan for the first time. In contrast, in April of this year, a Y-9 aircraft was observed traveling repeatedly between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea through the Miyako Strait.

Based on the aircraft photographed by Japan earlier, reports noted that a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) antenna was mounted beneath the forward fuselage of the Y-9DZ, in contrast to earlier Y-9 variants. This has been done to provide high-resolution ground mapping photos.

The reports and military observers further pointed out that on both sides of its rear fuselage, the aircraft was equipped with two large rectangular-shaped electronic support measures/electronic intelligence (ESM/ELINT) antennae. The aircraft also sported a Satellite Communication (SATCOM) antenna above the mid-fuselage and an oval dish-shaped ESM antenna atop the vertical fin.

Additionally, the aircraft probably features an unidentified radar in the rear cone of the fuselage and a weather radar system in the bulbous nose. These characteristics are meant to increase the Y-9DZ’s effectiveness in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.

They also imply that the aircraft can carry out several special missions, including electronic warfare (PSYOPS, an acronym for “psychological operations”), electronic jamming, electronic warfare, electronic warfare, and movement monitoring of the enemy.

EurAsian Times could not independently confirm that the aircraft that entered Japanese airspace was a Y-9DZ. Social media, however, was abuzz with claims that the aircraft was likely the Y-9JZ variant, which reportedly has four large rectangular fairings on either side of the forward and rear fuselage, a noticeable nose radome, and an electro-optical turret with FLIR/TV (Forward Looking InfraRed/TV) installed beneath the fuselage for surveillance.

That said, observers stated that it is no coincidence that a Chinese surveillance aircraft entered and exited Japanese airspace all in two minutes without any plausible reason.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT