Chinese Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft infringes Japan airspace

Japan began tracking the Chinese Shaanxi Y-9Z special mission aircraft as it flew towards Japan over the East China Sea. The aircraft subsequently breached Japanese airspace off the Danjo Islands while circling the waters off Nagasaki Prefecture. (Japan Ministry of Defense/Janes)

Amid growing tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) 'special mission' aircraft infringed Japanese airspace on 26 August, the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) has said.

The incident occurred late morning on 26 August when the Chinese aircraft entered Japanese airspace around Danjo (also known as Danjyo) Islands for two minutes, according to the Japan MoD. The incident constituted the first intrusion of Japanese airspace by a PLA aircraft “since we began anti-airspace incursion measures”, said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a press conference on 27 August.

Information published by the MoD shows the PLA aircraft flying towards Japan from the direction of eastern China. The aircraft subsequently flew a racetrack pattern over the waters between Japan's Koshikishima and Danjo island archipelagos. At one point, the Y-9 entered Japanese airspace east of the Danjo Islands for two minutes between 1129 h and 1131 h local time, according to the MoD.

Special variant

The MoD said it responded to the Chinese flight and incursion by scrambling Mitsubishi F-2s and Boeing (Mitsubishi) F-15s from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's (JASDF's) Western and Southwestern air defence forces.

Images taken by the intercepting aircraft reveal that the Chinese aircraft was a Shaanxi Y-9Z communications countermeasures aircraft, capable of conducting airborne psychological operations. The variant was initially designated the Y-9DZ in 2022 and is a new platform within the PLA's Y-9 ‘High New' series of ‘special missions' aircraft.