China Calls On Japan To End Jet Scrambles

China called on Japan on Thursday to stop scrambling its jets against Chinese aircraft following a rise in the number of such operations, saying it was source of flying safety concerns.
Tension has been high between China and Japan in recent months, with each accusing the other of flying military aircraft too close to its own jets in a long-running territorial dispute.
Both sides claim a string of Japanese-administered islets in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Beijing declared an air defense zone covering most of the East China Sea last year, sparking protests from Japan and the United States.
Japan's fighter jet scrambles against Chinese planes rose 29 percent to 103 in July-September, accounting for more than half of Tokyo's total scrambles in the three-month period.
In June, China summoned Japan's defense attache to lodge a protest after the two countries traded accusations over the conduct of military jets over the East China Sea.
businessinsider

Japan Military Jets Scrambled Record 340 Times in April-June

Japan said Wednesday that its military scrambled fighter jets a record 340 times in the three months to June in response to feared intrusions on its airspace, as tensions grow with China.
Around 70 percent of the jet launches were in response to Russian planes approaching Japanese airspace. The rest were scrambled in response to approaching Chinese planes. Japanese airspace was not violated on any of these occasions.
The latest figure marked a sharp increase on the same quarter last year, when Japanese jets were scrambled 110 times.
Russia frequently dispatches jets near Japan, as the two nations continue to negotiate a territorial dispute dating back to World War II.
Japan and China, meanwhile, are also locked in a bitter territorial row over islands in the East China Sea administered by Japan as the Senkaku Islands.
Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands numerous times since Japan nationalized some of them in September 2012, sometimes within the 12 nautical-mile territorial zone.
defensenews

Russian Fighters and missiles for China Still On Hold

Russian industry officials are denying media reports that Beijing and Moscow are finalizing a deal on the sale of advanced Russian fighters and surface-to-air missiles to China.
Widely reported by other media outlets, announced that the head of Sukhoi, confirmed that a deal with China to procure Su-35S fighters and S-400 SAMs was close to concluding.
But Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) denies anything beyond the sale of commercial aircraft during his visit to China.
UAC’s communications department, wrote in a news release that sale of the Su-35 was not in discussion with Chinese officials. However, UAC and China did sign a cooperation agreement to build wide-body long-range commercial airliners on May 20.
This does not mean that a deal on the multirole combat aircraft is dead, only that no agreement has been made.
S-400 and Su-35 deals might be sped up because of the growing importance of strategic ties with China for Moscow after the Crimean crisis. Taking into account production cycles, the first S-400s are unlikely to reach China before 2016.”
Whether the sale goes forward today or next year, it will spell trouble for Taiwan and Japan’s efforts to defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The 400-kilometer range S-400 will allow China to strike any aircraft over Taiwan. This will give China effective control of Taiwan’s airspace during a war. At present, China’s 300-kilometer range S-300s can hit aircraft only in a small section of Taiwan’s northwest coastal area.
The S-400 will make it difficult for Tokyo to control the Senkaku’s airspace. The disputed islands are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands are within 350 kilometers of China’s coast.
Taiwan is also facing a fighter shortage as older aircraft, such as the roughly 50 F-5s and 55 Mirage 2000s, begin retiring within the next 10 years. What remain are 126 upgraded indigenous defense fighters (IDFs) and 144 F-16A/B fighters. Taiwan has initiated an upgrade program for the F-16s, but still insists the US release 66 F-16C/D fighters on hold since 2006.
One response for Washington would be to sell Taiwan the General Electric F404 or F414-class small turbofan engine that would allow Taiwan to develop its indigenous defense fighter into a very short take-off, supersonic climbing fighter.
defensenews

Japan and Singapore on the list to buy V-22 Osprey

Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are seeking a variety of helicopters, including the V-22 Osprey, to offset China’s maritime threat.
Japan and Singapore have expressed interest in the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey.
For Japan, China’s recent agitation over the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands has raised fears China might attempt to seize the islands by force.
This has put Japan’s Defense Forces on notice: Improve range and capacity in its vertical-lift capability or risk losing the Senkakus, and possibly part of the Ryukyu Island chain, to China.
Japanese defense industry and government reports indicate the country is looking to procure 17 V-22s within the next five years.
Singapore is on the list to buy V-22s . The problem for Singapore is how to use Osprey to its full potential.
Singapore does not have an expeditionary force capability, though the military participates in regional humanitarian and disaster relief missions.
defensenews

Japan’s Dispatches of Jets Against China Rise to Record

Japan’s dispatches of fighter jets to pursue Chinese aircraft rose by a third in the past year to a record 415 times, reflecting growing tensions stemming from a territorial dispute in the East China Sea.
Planes and Coast Guard ships from both countries regularly tail one another around a chain of uninhabited islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Tensions over the dispute have led to a deterioration in Sino-Japanese relations at a time when both countries are increasing military spending.
The total number of times Japanese jets were sent up reached 810 in the year to the end of March, compared with 567 the previous year. Dispatches against Chinese aircraft made up 51 percent of the total, with the bulk of the remainder against Russian planes and nine against North Korea.
China this week accused Japan of taking provocative actions around the islands and said his country would never back down on its territorial claims.
Tensions over the islands, which are under Japanese administration, have been on the rise since Sept. 2012, when the Japanese government bought three of the five islands from a private. That decision prompted anti-Japanese protests across China and led to boycotts of Japanese goods there.
China further fanned tensions in November when it declared an air defense identification zone over a large swath of the East China Sea covering the islands and demanded that all foreign aircraft report their flight plans to Chinese authorities.
bloomberg

Japan Scrambles Jets Against Chinese Plane

Japan scrambled military jets Sunday to counter three Chinese military planes that flew near Japanese airspace.
One Y-8 information gathering plane and two H-6 bombers flew over the East China Sea, traveling in international airspace between southern Japanese islands and went to the Pacific Ocean before returning towards China on the same route Sunday morning.
Japan and China are locked in a bitter territorial row over islands in the East China Sea administered by Japan as the Senkaku Islands, but which China calls the Diaoyu Islands.
Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands numerous times since Japan nationalized them in September 2012, sometimes within the 12 nautical-mile territorial zone.
defensenews

US Navy to move Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to Japan next year

The Navy said Tuesday it would move the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan from San Diego to Japan next year so another carrier could come home for maintenance.
The shuffle will allow the Navy to keep one carrier deployed in the western Pacific, where tensions have flared in recent months over a tiny Japanese-controlled island chain also claimed by China.
The Reagan's home port will be the Yokusuka naval base in Japan, replacing the George Washington, which will move to Norfolk, Va., for refueling of its nuclear reactor.
A third carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, which is currently undergoing maintenance, will be shifted to San Diego.
The move means San Diego will continue to be the home port for two carriers. The Carl Vinson is also based there.
The Navy currently has 10 carriers, one of which is usually undergoing maintenance that can take several years to complete.
The Pentagon has said that the disputed island chain, known as the Senkakus in Japan and as the Diaoyus in China, is covered by the U.S.-Japan defense treaty, which requires the U.S. to come to Japan's aid if it is attacked.
U.S officials have urged China and Japan to peacefully resolve the dispute, but tensions flared in November when Beijing declared all planes entering an "air defense zone" in the East China Sea near the islands would have to identify themselves.
The George Washington deployed in November to the Philippines to help with relief efforts after a typhoon hit the islands.
The U.S. also keeps a carrier air wing, consisting of several squadrons of strike aircraft capable of operating off a carrier, in Japan, along with several squadrons of the Air Force's most advanced land-based fighters.
The Reagan has operated from San Diego since 2004.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-navy-ronald-reagan-carrier-japan-20140114,0,7005230.story#ixzz2qbFNP4UW
Lean more

Japan to buy 17 V-22s and 3 RQ-4s under new five-year Mid-Term Defense Program

Japan's new five-year Mid-Term Defense Program includes outlays for 17 new Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and three Global Hawk surveillance drones to help it respond to China's growing presence in the East China Sea.
The government plans to use the new aircraft to heighten its capabilities to protect remote islands and to monitor China's activities in waters and airspace near the disputed Senkaku Islands.
Further spending will include 28 F-35 Lightning fighter jets for the Air Self-Defense Force, as well as four new early-warning aircraft and three new air-refueling and transportation aircraft.
Since the government put the Senkaku Islands under state ownership in September 2012, Chinese government's vessels have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the islands, heightening tensions between the two countries.
ajw.asahi.com

24 JH-7A bombers stationed at PLA air base closest to Japan

24 PLA JH-7A fighter-bombers are currently stationed at Weifang in eastern China's Shandong province, the closest Chinese air base to Japan and the Korean peninsula.
The fighter-bombers carries YJ-83 anti-ship missiles would pose a threat to Japanese naval vessels should the conflict between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands covered by the newly established Chinese air defense identification zone escalate. The range of the C802AKD, the export and upgraded version of the YJ-83, is estimated to be more than 250 kilometers.
The PLA Air Force has 96 JH-7A fighter-bombers while the PLA Navy Air Force operates a further 96. When planes used as training aircraft are included, China has at least have 200 JH-7As in service.
JH-7A planes are also likely to be deployed to the 37th Air Division in Northwestern China aimed at deterring a potential attack by NATO forces from Afghanistan. Together with the HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles located at major cities such as Xi'an and Lanzhou, the JH-7A is crucial for the PLA Air Force to defend its northwestern border against US attempts at containment as well as in the Pacific.
wantchinatimes

Japan could replace E-2C with 737 AEW&C

In response to China’s declaration of an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea that includes the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, the Japanese and U.S. governments have confirmed that the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces will cooperate to strengthen warning and surveillance activities over the sea.
To block China’s move to change the status quo by force, which Japan and the United States consider to be an unacceptable unilateral action, the SDF plans to set up a new permanent unit of the Air-Self Defense Force’s early-warning E-2C aircraft at Naha Base in the prefecture, and expand deployment of the Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance drone.
The SDF will launch “the second airborne warning and surveillance unit” at Naha Base in fiscal 2014, and will use some of the E-2C aircraft deployed at the ASDF’s Misawa Base.
With these plans in mind, the Defense Ministry plans to include its policy to introduce a successor aircraft to the E-2C in fiscal 2015.
The successor aircraft to the E-2C could be a Boeing E-737 AEW&C.
E-2C aircraft cannot be refueled in the air and can conduct warning and surveillance activities around the Senkaku Islands for only about four hours. The introduction of E-737s would make it possible for the SDF to conduct longer missions.
U.S. forces currently deploy the Global Hawk in Guam, which also conducts warning and surveillance activities around Japan. U.S.
The ASDF also intends to adopt the Global Hawk in fiscal 2015.
japan-news

China vies for control of disputed islands; Japan boosts aerial surveillance

A day after its patrol plane was confronted by Japanese fighter jets over the disputed islands, China on Friday said it will “resolutely fight” for the control of disputed islands with Japan and accused Tokyo of violating post second world war order by buying the islets.

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