Japanese Territorial Airspace Breached by Chinese Y-9 Intelligence Aircraft | Aviation

For the first confirmed time, a Chinese military intelligence gathering flight off the coast of Japan briefly entered territorial airspace south-east of the uninhabited Danjo Islands.

On Aug. 26, 2024, the Japanese Ministry of Defense reported that a Chinese military Y-9 intelligence aircraft violated Japanese territorial airspace near the Danjo Islands, approximately seventy kilometers southwest of Gotō, Nagasaki prefecture. The incursion happened following a sortie in international airspace off Nagasaki and lasted approximately two minutes, from 11:29 to 11:31 local time.

Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) aircraft assigned to the Western Air Defense Force were launched to intercept the aircraft and issued radio warnings to the Chinese intruder. After the Y-9 departed territorial airspace it continued on mission until around 13:15 local time, afterwards departing back towards the People’s Republic of China.

Ministry of…