Japan seeks to move E-2Cs and another F-15J squadron to Okinawa

Naha-based 204 Hikotai F-15J Eagle. USAF Photo

Japan's government has indicated that it is planning to deploy a second squadron of Mistubishi F-15J/DJ Eagles to Naha Airbase in Okinawa. In addition, it has also revealed that a squadron of E-2 Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft could also be sent there.

The base is the primary airbase which the Japan Air Self-Defense Force uses to provide overwatch for the hotly disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. As I have mentioned before, the sole JASDF F-15 unit currently based in Naha has been in the thick of the action scrambling against Chinese aircraft entering Japan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) while patrolling in the East China Sea, or headed out into the Western Pacific. The recent declaration of an ADIZ in the East China Sea by China would also have added impetus to this decision.

Word is that the JASDF F-15 unit that will be relocated to Naha to join the overworked 204 Hikotai will be the 304 Hikotai from Tsuiki in southern Kyushu, with an Mitsubishi F-2 unit from Misawa moving to Tsuiki to form a second F-2 Hikotai in Tsuiki.

Relocating northern Kyushu's sole interceptor unit and replacing it with a unit operating the F-2 (primarily a maritime strike platform) at a base facing a sector of the East China Sea where Chinese aircraft have been known to penetrate Japan's ADIZ from strikes me as odd. If anything, I had expected that 305 Hikotai at Hyakuri would have been the most likely candidate for the move, given it's located at Japan's quiet eastern seaboard away from the usual hotspots of Japan's ADIZ.

More on that Chinese Electronic Warfare Y-8 patrolling China's ADIZ

After the Chinese declaration of a Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea on the 23rd of November (see my take over at War Is Boring), China sent up the first patrol to "enforce" its ADIZ that very same day. It was duly intercepted by fighters from Japan's Air Self Defense Force, which brought back a photo of another of China's rarely-seen Y-8 Special Missions types, this time being a Chinese Air Force Shaanxi Y-8GX-1 Electronic Warfare platform.

The Y-8GX-series (GX - GaoXin, 高新 or literally translated as "High New" which is the code name for China's Special Missions Y-8 project) of Special Missions aircraft is not really well known in the public sphere. The various sub-types - eight have been identified so far - fulfill a range of missions such as Electronic Warfare and intelligence gathering (ELINT and SIGINT) along with more orthodox roles like Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare.

The Y-8GX-1 is the first Gao Xin variant, and first flight took place on 26th January 2000. At least four, possibly up to six, airframes were converted to this variant. The Y-8GX-1 featured the removal of the Y-8 transport's rear cargo ramp and is liberally covered in various antennae along the top and bottom fuselage. A large semi-spherical fairing (SATCOM antenna?) sits in front of the vertical tail while a ventral canoe fairing is located on the forward fuselage.

Not much else is known publicly about on-board equipment, but it is reportedly equipped with the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) JN1119 Airborne Communication Reconnaissance System capable of intercepting, direction finding, and jamming wireless communication signals between 100-500MHz and may also carry the 300 & 308 systems for similar purposes.

The first sighting of this type occured in July 2005 while serving with the former 30th Independent (Electronic-Warfare) Regiment, at Nanjing-Dajiaochang in Jiangsu Province. Sometime between late 2011 and 2012 at least two aircraft, including the aircraft photographed here, were transferred to an as-yet unknown Regiment of the newly-formed 20th Division and rehomed to Luzhou in Sichuan Province, part of China's Chengdu Military Region.

Japanese fighters intercept Chinese Tu-154MD SIGINT/ELINT aircraft

And now China's special missions Tupolev 154s have gotten in the act. The Japanese Ministry of Defence has issued a press release that it has scrambled interceptors against a Chinese Air Force Tu-154MD Type II Signals Intelligence/Electronic Intelligence (SIGINT/ELINT) aircraft west of Okinawa (see attached map for flightpath) on Saturday the 16th of November.

The aircraft, carrying a civil code (B-4015) is one of at least four such aircraft in the Chinese Air Force's inventory. The conversion of the type to its current role was carried out in the early 1990s, and originally carried a BM/KZ-800 ELINT suite. The Type II aircraft that was intercepted sports a long canoe fairing at the front of the fuselage, believed to house a Synthetic Aperture Radar as well as other fairings for its specialised role. The aircraft serve with the secretive 102nd Air Regiment, 34th Transport Division at Beijing-Nanyuan.

JASDF intercepts more Chinese Y-8s, H-6s transiting Miyako Straits

Tracks of intercepted Chinese aircraft release by the Japanese MoD

Like I've said before, this is the New Normal.

Japanese fighters have intercepted two Xi'an H-6G bombers and a similar number of Shaanxi Y-8J AEW/MPAs [.pdf] belonging to the Chinese Navy transiting through international airspace over the Miyako Straits on their way to the Western Pacific on Friday. The two H-6s were flying together, while the Y-8Js flew singly, at different times of the day. The above graphic illustrates the tracks of the individual aircraft.

The Chinese aircraft would likely have been involved in a massive exercise involving all three fleets of the Chinese Navy. The Chinese have also said that the exercises were monitored by "foreign military vessels and reconnaissance aircraft".

We have previously covered the Chinese Navy's Y-8J and H-6Gs involved in greater details here and here respectively.

Japanese F-15s scramble to intercept Chinese bombers, UAV

Chinese Navy H-6G intercepted by the JASDF. Click on thumbnail for high resolution image (Japanese MoD)

The past two days have seen the Japanese Ministry of Defence announce that it had scrambled fighters to intercept Chinese military aircraft that have breached Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). That in itself is nothing much out of the ordinary, since the Japanese Air Self Defense Force has scrambled 306 times against Chinese aircraft in 2012, which works out to almost once daily.

Map released by the Japanese MoD (and annotated by me) of the H-6G track. Click on thumbnail for high resolution image.

What is different in the latest interceptions is the type of aircraft and their flight profile. On Sunday the 8th of September, the JASDF scrambled fighters against a pair of Chinese Navy Xi’an H-6G bombers (see photo above of one of the H-6s taken by the JASDF). The bombers flew through international airspace over the Miyako Straits south of the Japanese island of Okinawa, headed out into the Pacific before turning back towards China the same way it came.

This was followed the next day with yet another new move by the Chinese. This time, JASDF interceptors were scrambled against another interloper, which turned out to be an “unidentified drone”. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was detected flying southeast off the coast of Zhejiang before circling the skies approximately 100 miles (160km) north of the disputed Senkaku/Islands before heading off in the directions of China. This event marks the first time a land-based Chinese UAV has approached the Japanese ADIZ.

From the photo of the UAV released by the Japanese MoD, it would appear to be a BZK-005 Medium Altitude, Long Endurance UAV. Designed by the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics and Harbin Aircraft Industry Group, little is known about this obscure UAV. It was unveiled in 2006 and believed to boast an endurance of 40 hours with a service ceiling of 8,000m (26,000 feet). The type is known to be in service with the Chinese Navy and an unknown reconnaissance unit flies the UAV from the nearby base of Huangyan-Luqiao (see map)

Map released by the Japanese MoD (and annotated by me) of the UAV's track. Click on thumbnail for high resolution image.

The H-6G is a Chinese-built version of the Tupolev Tu-16 ‘Badger’ bomber that have been constantly modernized and updated by the Chinese, and is utilized as a missile carrier carrying anti-ship or cruise missiles. Alternatively, the H-6G can also carry Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) pods in the Electronic Warfare role. The serial number on the photographed H-6G indicates that it belongs to the Chinese Navy’s 17th Air Regiment, East Sea Fleet based at Jiangsu-Benniu, west of Shanghai.

The Japanese MoD has not identified the interceptors involved on both occasions; however they were almost certainly Mitsubishi-built F-15J/DJ Eagles from the JASDF’s 204th Hikotai, based at Naha on Okinawa. The unit’s fighters have been at the forefront of confronting Chinese aircraft flying in Japan’s ADIZ.

The intercepted Chinese UAV (Japanese MoD)

As has been mentioned during the earlier interception of the Chinese Y-8, this flight profile by the Chinese bombers is unusual and had hitherto been unknown. These latest overflights take place in the days immediately before the anniversary of the Japanese government’s nationalisation of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in 2012, causing the simmering dispute to flare up in a big way.

However, the Chinese Defense Ministry, responding to both overflights, said that the overflight was a “routine task” and “not aimed at any country”, and reiterated – correctly – that China enjoys freedom of overflight in relevant waters. More interestingly, it also said that the Chinese military will organize similar activities to the Western Pacific in the future. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: The new normal.

Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 09 Sept 2013

Royal Malaysian Air Force MiG-29N

And the drip-drip of escalation has just went up a notch. Japan's Ministry of Defence has said that JASDF has scrambled fighters to intercept two H-6 bombers belonging to the Chinese Navy transiting through the Miyako Straits on Sunday. This was followed by the interception of an unidentified unmanned aircraft near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands on Monday.

Looks like Malaysia's plan for a new fighter to replace its MiG-29s have been put on hold. The replacement was due to come on board by 2015 so as to allow the MiGs to be retired.

The deal for China to purchase the Sukhoi Su-35 should be concluded sometime in 2014, according to Russian sources.

Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 23 Aug 2013

A People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Nanchang Q-5 has crashed near Dalian, in China's Liaoning Province today. The pilot was unfortunately killed in the crash.

Japan has announced that about half of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 13 E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft will be transferred to Naha in Okinawa from their current base in Misawa, northern Japan. This is to improve the area's Early Warning coverage in the face of increased Chinese overflights in the area surrounding the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Meanwhile, I've done up a separate blog post with more details about JASDF F-2 fighters intercepting a pair of Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS Bears that were accused of violating Japanese airspace. Japan has lodged an official complaint, and Russia says it's investigating.

Russian AF Bears bring about JASDF interceptors (again)

Tu-95MS Bear photographed by intercepting Japanese fighters (Japanese MoD photo). Click on image for high-res version

Japan has lodged a formal complaint with Russia regarding the intrusion into Japanese airspace by a pair of Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear bombers near Fukuoka in Japan's main southern island of Kyushu.

According to the press release (in Japanese) issued by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the instrusion took place on the 22nd of August between 1209 and 1211 local time. The bombers were intercepted by Mitsubishi F-2 fighters, almost certainly from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 6th Hikotai based at Tsuiki.

Bear tracks (in red)

It has become something of a scripted event in recent times. Whenever Japan brings up the issue of the disputed Kuril Islands that were seized by the former Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II, Russia sends over its military aircraft to buzz Japan.

I reckon it's like the 1980s movie Beetlejuice, and Japan saying "Kurile Islands" is saying "Beetlejuice" 3 times in the movie, with the difference being that saying the former brings Russian aircraft to Japan's doorstep.

Japanese and South Korean Eagles taking part in Red Flag Alaska 13-3

For the first time, the Republic of Korea Air Force and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force are taking part in an exercise together. Contingents of F-15 Eagles from both countries are currently participating in Red Flag - Alaska 13-3. Here's a piece about the exercise I've written for War Is Boring.

China ups the ante with Japan (by just that little bit) with overflight

PLAN Y-8J intercepted (and photographed) by the JASDF (© Japanese MoD)

On July 24, the Joint Staff of the Japanese Defense Ministry released a statement that the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) had scrambled interceptors against a Shaanxi Y-8 Maritime Patrol/Airborne Early Warning aircraft. Nothing new about that, given that the Japanese MoD had already previously noted that scrambles triggered by Chinese military aircraft entering Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) had been on the increase for years, except that this time it came with a slight twist. The aircraft, which turned out to be a Chinese Naval Air Force Y-8J, wasn’t content with skirting the hotly disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands as the usual practice, but flew an approximately south-easterly course through international airspace between Japan’s southern Okinawa and Miyakojima Islands, headed out into the Pacific, before coming back up the same way heading towards its base in mainland China (see image of Y-8’s route, in red below).

Apparently, this is some kind of big deal. Well, I suppose it sort of is, given the much more modest nature of China’s previous aerial activities around Japan, and this is reportedly the first time Chinese military aircraft have reportedly flown this route (although Chinese Navy ships are semi-regular users of the international waters below). However, it still pales in comparison with five foreign aircraft poking around your airspace in one day (which included cruise missile-carrying intercontinental bombers circumnavigating international airspace around Japan)

The difference, I guess, is the simmering dispute over ownership of the supposedly resource-rich Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands between Japan (who currently administers the islands and calls it the Senkakus) and China (who claims the islands and calls it Diaoyu) which means that such Chinese overflights make the mainstream news much more readily than Russian ones. At the end of the day, it IS an escalation, even though in the greater scheme of things, it's not one that really should raise eyebrows by a large margin.

Just a little backgrounder: The Chinese aircraft in question, a Shaanxi Y-8J serialed 9321, is a converted Y-8 transport, which is itself a Chinese-built version of the Soviet Antonov An-12 ‘Cub’, an aircraft roughly the size, capability, performance and versatility of the Lockheed-Martin C-130H Hercules.

The Y-8J is among the oldest of the myriad special mission Y-8 variants which are known to be in use with the Chinese military. Equipped with a Racal (now Thales) Skymaster Pulse-Doppler air-and-sea-search radar in a enlarged, drooping nose radome, the variant was first spotted in 2000 and it is believed that the Chinese operate at least four aircraft with the Chinese Navy’s 2nd Naval Aviation Division, 4th Air Regiment based at Laiyang, Shandong Province.

Note: Excerpts of this post appears in a collaborative, much longer, piece over at War Is Boring.

Declining yen may force Japan to delay F-35 purchase

Photo © Tom Harvey/Lockheed Martin

An interesting article over at Defense News on how the declining yen may force Japan to defer the delivery for some of its F-35s. The current plan is for Japan to receive four F-35As from the Low Rate Initial Production Batch 8 (LRIP-8) in 2016/17 before locally assembling the remaining 38 locally by 2021.

The article also touches on other developments in Japan's fighter fleet, such as the moving of a second squadron of F-15J/DJs to Okinawa's Naha Airbase in 2015 and the upgrading of the JASDF's F-15 and F-2 fleets.

VIDEO: The ABC visits the JASDF F-15s at the frontline of island dispute

Click on thumbnail to watch the report on the ABC's website

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Mark Willacy visits the F-15s of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's 204th Hikotai as part of his report on the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands in the East China Sea.

As the sole JASDF fighter unit based at Naha in Okinawa, the 204th Hikotai (known in the report by its callsign, the White Eagle squadron) is geographically the closest JASDF fighter unit to the islands, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan and have been the scene of numerous encounters (confrontations?) between vessels and aircraft from the claimant nations.

h/t to Kyle Mizokami over at Japan Security Watch

Mitsubishi to produce Japan's F-35s?

Flightglobal's Greg Waldron has reported that Lockheed Martin is working with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on a local final assembly and checkout line for the F-35, with the first Japanese-produced F-35 scheduled to roll off Mitsubishi's Nagoya line in 2017.

Interesting reads: Rivals vie for F-16 upgrades; Japan's airpower issues

A couple of articles worth a read, if Asian military aviation is your thing:

Lockheed Martin hopes to cash in by upgrading F-16s by Bob Cox over at The Star Telegram

China crisis adds urgency to Japanese air force modernisation by Greg Waldron at Flightglobal.

A common denominator of both stories is the troubled development of the Lockheed-Martin F-35, along with (to a smaller extent) the rise of China's military power. Most critics are worried about how the F-35's issues will affect the dominance of the United States, but have focused less on its effect on American's allies, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan's F-35A purchase will be 4 aircraft plus 38 options

The United States' Defense Security and Cooperation Agency has issued a notification of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Japan of 4 F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters with a further 38 options. [PDF] The Japanese Defense Ministry announced in December 2011 that it had selected the F-35 as the winner of it's F-X competition, with the first aircraft expected to be delivered in 2016.

JASDF F-15s to provide air cover for Japanese AEGIS cruisers

Japan's Defense Ministry will deploy F-15Js to provide air cover for three Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force AEGIS cruisers monitoring anticipated North Korean ballistic missile tests. Two F-15Js will take up permanent station over each of the ships for the duration of the ships' patrol.

PHOTO: JASDF C-130H alongside RAAF C-130Hs at RAAF Richmond

Photo © Commonwealth of Australia. Click on thumbnail to view high-res imagery

Japan Air Self-Defense Force C-130H Hercules on the flightline at RAAF Base Richmond with a pair of Royal Australian Air Force C-130Hs in the background. Japan and Australia’s commitment to providing emergency airlift relief in the Asia Pacific region has been reaffirmed with a historic visit to RAAF Base Richmond. For the first time, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) C-130H Hercules transport aircraft visited Richmond from 13-17 March. RAAF Hercules crews have extensive experience in the field of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), assisting both domestic and international responses.

Japan to upgrade F-2s with new radar, AESA-equiped AAMs

JASDF F-2A. (USAF Photo)

Japan is planning to upgrade 60 Mitsubishi F-2 combat jets with new radars and integration with the AAM-4B air-to-air missile (AAM) in a deal believed to be worth US$468 million. This upgrade will also provide a much-needed boost to Japan’s struggling aviation/military industry.

The AAM-4B is fitted with a missile seeker featuring, for the first time in an AAM, an Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) radar. Coupled with the enhanced J/APG-2 radar to replace the current J/APG-1 set, Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-2 pilots are expected to have vastly improved air-to-air capabilities.

The survivors of 94 F-2s currently serve with 2 JASDF Hikotais (Wings). One aircraft has been lost in a crash, while 12 were written off in the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami that swept through Matsushima Airbase.

JASDF C-130 makes historic visit to RAAF Richmond

Today marks the start of a first-ever visit by a Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) C-130H Hercules transport aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force base at Richmond, in the state of New South Wales. The three-day visit comes one year after RAAF C-17A Globemaster transport aircraft provided assistance Japan to in the wake of the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami.

Japan's KC-130R purhcase is to replace YS-11s

So it seems my question last week regarding Japan's KC-130R purchase had actually been answered four months ago. In this press release dated 14 October 2011, Japan's Ministry of Defence announced the decision to purchase stored ex-USMC KC-130s. The release is in Japanese, but to spare our readers from having to figure out Google's clunky (albeit still useful) translation; here are the salient points:

• The JASDF's YS-11M/M-A fleet needs to be replaced ahead of schedule due to high use during HADR efforts following the Tohuku quake and tsunami.
• The Japanese MoD has requested a supplementary budget of 0.99 billion yen to fund the purchase of a replacement.
• Stored ex-USMC KC-130Rs, sans inflight refuelling equipment have been selected for purchase.