Joint U.S.-Japan flight responds to Chinese-Russian military drills

U.S. bombers equipped with nuclear weapon bays flew over the Sea of Japan together with Japanese fighter jets, Tokyo announced, according to Reuters, noting that this is a show of force amid Chinese-Russian drills in the region.

“Japan and the United States confirmed their determination to prevent any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force and declared the readiness of the Self-Defense Forces (of Japan) and U.S. troops,” Japan’s Ministry of Defense said in a press release today.

The flight of two U.S. B-52 strategic bombers together with three Japanese F-35 stealth fighters and three F-15s is the first such demonstration of U.S. military presence since China began its drills in the region last week, CE Report quotes BTA.

It follows a joint flight by Chinese and Russian strategic bombers over the East China Sea and the western Pacific on Tuesday, as well as separate drills involving a Chinese aircraft carrier that forced Japan to scramble its own fighters. According to Tokyo, radars from Chinese combat aircraft were directed at them, Reuters added.

Beijing denied Tokyo’s accusations, saying that Japanese jets flying near the aircraft carrier threatened its air operations south of Japan.

The incident drew criticism from the United States, which said the episode “does not contribute to regional peace and stability” and reaffirmed that its alliance with Japan remains “unshakable.”

Both Japan and South Korea host U.S. troops on their territory, with Japan having the largest concentration of American military forces outside the United States, including a carrier strike group and a Marine expeditionary unit.

South Korea’s military announced that it also scrambled fighter jets after Chinese and Russian aircraft entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone, which extends beyond the country’s airspace and serves as an early-warning buffer.