The Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets to intercept a Chinese surveillance aircraft on Monday.
The Y-9 electronic intelligence-gathering plane carried out a circular patrol as it passed near islands belonging to Japan's southwesternmost prefecture, Okinawa, the U.S. ally said in a press release.
This version of the Y-9 specializes in intercepting and analyzing electronic signals, making it indispensable to gathering strategic data on an adversary's offensive or defensive operations, missile launches and troop movements. It can also provide an early warning that can be pivotal in defending against attacks.
A Newsweek map (below) based on data that was released by the Japanese Defense Ministry's Joint Staff shows the plane approaching on a southwestern vector over the East China Sea.
Flying toward the Okinawa prefecture, where the U.S. stations about 30,000 military service members across 32 bases, the aircraft flew between Miyako Island and the prefecture's namesake and largest island, Okinawa.
The Y-9 then headed northeast, turning to fly in the direction of Okinawa Island. It then looped back around to retrace its inbound path over Miyako and Okinawa and back northwest.
On March 28, Japan reported that the same type of plane passed through the area. It too threaded the needle between Okinawa and Miyako and traversed the strategic Miyako Strait, but it then flew west after traversing the strategic Miyako Strait and entered airspace over the Philippine Sea.
The Miyako Strait is a strategic point of interest for Beijing. It is one of the few waterways—along with the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines—through which China's naval forces can exit the group of islands known as the first island chain and reach the open Pacific.
Newsweek reached out to China's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
The multipurpose Y-9 is an upgrade of the Y-8, which was based on the Soviet Antonov An-12 medium transport plane. It is manufactured by China's state-owned Shaanxi Aircraft Corp. and comes in a number of anti-submarine and electronic warfare models.
The turboprop aircraft has an operational range of approximately 4,900 miles and can stay in the air for 12 hours, according to the U.S. Army-run OE Data Integration Network, a database of military technologies.
Last week, Japan said it had monitored a pair of Chinese People's Liberation Army warships, the Luyang II-class destroyer Changchun and Jiangkai II-class frigate Changzhou, as they sailed about 90 miles south of Miyako Island while patrolling through the area in international waters.
They also passed the disputed Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands and claims it controls.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
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