Japan scrambles fighter to intercept Chinese military aircraft - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/09/26/jpch-s26.html
Des airs de bataille du Pacifique...
he Japanese military scrambled a fighter jet yesterday as the Chinese air force sent more than 40 military aircraft into the western Pacific via the Miyako Strait near Okinawa Island in Japan’s southern island chain. The Chinese exercise and the Japanese response are another sign of sharp tensions in North East Asia amid the US “pivot to Asia” and continuing military build-up in the region.
While Beijing described its exercise as routine, the number of aircraft involved is unusually high. A military spokesperson, Shen Jinke said various types of aircraft were involved, including H-6K long-range strategic bombers, Su-30 fighters and air tankers. The drill involved “reconnaissance and early warning, attacks on sea surface targets, and in-flight refueling to test the air force’s fighting capacity on the high seas.”