After Chinese and Russian strategic bombers unexpectedly conducted a combined patrol in South Korea’s air defense zone in the western Pacific early on Wednesday morning, the country scrambled its jet fighters.
According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, two Chinese and six Russian aircraft violated South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ), prompting the deployment of the jets, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
Near the nation’s southern and northeastern shores, the aircraft entered and left the KADIZ.
Two Chinese H-6 bombers, four Russian TU-95 bombers, and two Russian SU-35 fighters, according to the military, crossed the KADIZ but did not enter South Korea’s airspace.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement saying, “Our military deployed air force fighter planes even before Chinese and Russian aircraft reached the KADIZ to take tactical steps in case of scenario.”
An image from a handout from the Russian Defense Ministry depicts a TU-95 strategic bomber.
AP
According to Kyodo News, the Japanese Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that two Chinese bombers left the East China Sea and flew via the Tsushima Strait in southwest Japan before continuing north to the Sea of Japan.
Korean jet aircraft were displayed on November 2. When Chinese and Russian planes flew into South Korea’s air defense zone on Wednesday, the country scrambled its aircraft.
South Korean Ministry of Defense/AF
The Tsushima Strait separates South Korea from Japan.
According to Japan’s military, the Chinese bombers “entered the Sea of Japan and then headed north.”
It said that two Russian-looking aircraft seemed to fly south over the Sea of Japan at the same moment before turning back.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Chinese H-6 bombers and Russian TU-95 bombers conducted an eight-hour combined patrol over the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan.
As part of a demonstration of military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, the Russian airplanes landed in China and the Chinese bombers flew to a Russian air base, according to the ministry.
As a sign of the expanding confidence between the two nations, China dispatched more than 2,000 soldiers, military equipment, combat aircraft, and three warships to participate in military exercises with Russia in September.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Moscow and Beijing have grown closer as a result of China’s failure to condemn Russia for beginning the conflict and its scapegoating of NATO and the US.
»South Korea scrambles planes in response to a Russian and Chinese flyby«