Violations of Japanese airspace have occurred on a number of occasions. There have been 39 cases from 1967 to 2017. The vast majority have involved
Soviet aircraft during the
Cold War, or
Russian aircraft afterwards.
There have been several prominent cases of airspace violations.
![Air Defense Identification Zone of Japan3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Air_Defense_Identification_Zone_of_Japan3.png)
*
Viktor Belenko MiG-25 defection (September 6, 1976)
*
Soviet Tu-16 violation of airspace over Okinawa (December 9, 1987)
In addition to actual violations there are many cases of foreign aircraft skirting Japanese airspace or entering Japan's
Air Defense Identification Zone. In 2016
fighter squadrons of the
Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warf ...
(JASDF) aircraft launched 851 times to intercept Chinese aircraft and 301 times in response to Russian aircraft.
[Japan Air Self-Defense Force: Chinese Intercepts Down 50, Russia Up 60 Percent July 17, 2017]
''The Diplomat
''The Diplomat'' is an international online news magazine covering politics, society, and culture in the Indo-Pacific region. It is based in Washington, D.C.
It was originally an Australian bi-monthly print magazine, founded by Minh Bui Jone ...
'' Retrieved September 20, 2017
List of airspace violations
See also
*
Tokyo Express (flights)
References
{{reflist
Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan
Japan Air Self-Defense Force