Japan fighter jets INTERCEPT Russian supersonic bomber near North Korea
JAPANESE fighter jets have been scrambled to head off a Russian supersonic bomber flying off the coast of North Korea, air traffic monitors show.
By Joshua Nevett
DailyStar.co.uk
19th January 2018
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has deployed fighter jets to escort the Russian aircraft over the Sea of Japan, according to military aircraft tracking maps.
The Russian Sukhoi Su-24, a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft, flew close to Japanese airspace, near the city of Wajima, Ishikawa, before turning back towards Vladivostock, a major port city that borders with North Korea.
The JASDF is yet to release a statement about the operation in the politically tense area of the Asia Pacific.
The flight comes just days after two Russian supersonic heavy bombers flew less than 35 miles from British airspace.
Flying an Su-24 over the Sea of Japan is the latest example of Russian leader Vladimir Putin flexing his military muscles amid tensions with western countires, namely the US.
Russian Su-24s, known by the NATO codename “Fencer”, are front-line bombers designed to carry out precision strikes against ground and surface targets in any weather conditions.
Developed under the Soviet Union, Su-24s are blisting with weapons, including radar-homing missileswith a range of 90km.
Russia has form for dispatching military planes for provocative flights over the Sea of Japan – a region the US regularly stations its largest aircraft carriers.
Chuguyevka, in the eastern Russian region of Primorski Krai, is the closest military air base to the region.
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