Russia and China conducted two days of joint bomber flights on Friday and Saturday. The first taking place on Friday over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea while the second took place over the East China Sea and Miyako Strait. Friday’s joint flight caused Japan and South Korea to scramble fighter jets while Saturday’s flight resulted in Japan scrambling fighter jets as the flight path, while in international airspace were in the vicinity of Japan’s southwest islands.
The joint bomber flight was the first time China deployed nuclear weapons capable bombers in the joint flight. It’s the second joint bomber flight this year following an earlier flight through the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone in July.
On Friday morning, two Chinese H-6 bombers along with two J-16 fighter aircraft flew from the East China Sea to the Sea of Japan, Japan’s Joint Staff Office said. In the afternoon the two H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers flew together over a long distance from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea. The JSO said one Russian Su-35 fighter joined the bombers as they flew together over the Sea of Japan. The release added that a Chinese Y-9 electronic intelligence aircraft flew from the East China Sea to the Sea of Japan in the morning of the same day, and while the Chinese bombers were flying in the morning and afternoon, an estimated one presumed Chinese aircraft was flying over the East China Sea and during the time the Russian bombers were flying over the Sea of Japan, an estimated one presumed Russian aircraft was also flying over the Sea of Japan.
The JSO included a map of the flight paths by the Russian and Chinese aircraft along with photographs of taken by intercepting JASDF aircraft, , “In response to these, fighter jets from the Western Air Defense Force of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and other forces were scrambled to respond,” reads the release.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement five Chinese military aircraft and six Russian military aircraft sequentially entered and left the East Sea and South Sea Korean Air Defense Identification Zone on Friday and that there were no airspace violations.
“Our military identified the Chinese and Russian military aircraft before they entered KADIZ, and implemented tactical measures by deploying Air Force fighter jets to prepare for contingencies.”, concluded the release.
An Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) is a region that a country designates and uses to detect, identify and control aircraft entering the area in the interest of national security and usually extends well beyond a country’s territorial airspace, ADIZ’s are not recognized by international law and by other countries whose aircraft enter the area, which considers them as international airspace that may be freely flown through. Standard practice for most countries is to have fighters intercept and ‘escort’ the aircraft entering the ADIZ until it leaves the area.
Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense protested the joint bomber flight, stating in a release that Woo Kyung-seok, the head of the Regional Security Cooperation Task Force of the Ministry of National Defense made separate phone calls to the Chinese and Russian Defense Attaches in South Korea to lodge a strong protest on the joint flight urged China and Russia to make efforts to prevent a recurrence.
The release added that the Ministry of National Defense expressed regret to both countries for the Chinese and Russian military aircraft entering the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) without prior notice and flying for a long time, “The Ministry of National Defense strongly requested that appropriate measures be taken to prevent a recurrence, as such actions could unnecessarily create tensions in the region.”, concluded the release.
China’s Ministry of National Defense posted a short release on the joint bomber flight,
“According to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries, on Nov. 29, the two sides organized and implemented the ninth joint air strategic cruise in the relevant airspace of the Sea of Japan.”, read the release. China Bugle, the official social media network of the People’s Liberation Army posted images on its X social media account along with a video on its Weibo social media account. The Weibo posting also stated this was the first public release of footage of the H-6N’s combat cruise.
The H-6N is the nuclear weapons capable variant of the Xian H-6 bomber, a license-built version of the Russian Tupolev Tu-16, previous bomber flights had involved the conventional armed H-6K, the latest variant of the H-6 series. Friday’s flight marked the first time China has deployed a nuclear-capable bomber in the joint flight. Russia usually deploys nuclear weapons capable Tu-95MS bombers for the joint flights. Russia has yet to issue any release on the joint bomber flight at the time of writing.
The Ninth Joint Air Strategic Cruise is the second one carried out this year, with the previous Eighth Joint Air Strategic Cruise carried out on Jul. 24 in the Alaska ADIZ, prompting intercepts by Canadian and U.S fighter aircraft assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) though no violations of U.S airspace occurred. The Eighth Joint Air Strategic Cruise was carried out on Dec. 14 last year in the East China Sea and Sea of Japan, which also led to Tokyo and Seoul scrambling their fighter jets in response.
On Saturday, the JSO said that two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers conducted a long-distance flight between the morning and afternoon of that day and that the bombers flew from the direction of China, passed between Okinawa and Miyako Island, entered the Philippine Sea and then turned around there and subsequently passed between Okinawa and Miyako Island again to enter the East China Sea.
The JSO also stated that during the flight, the bombers were joined by 4 Chinese J-16 fighters, 1 presumed Chinese fighter and 1 Chinese Y-20 tanker aircraft. Imagery released by the JSO showed the Y-20 conducting a mid-air refuelling operation with 2 of the J-16s. The mid-air refuelling is likely the first time China has carried out such in the vicinity of southwest Japan though the JSO made no mention of it. The JSO also stated that two more J-16 fighters joined the bombers as they departed the Philippine Sea.
The release also said that ahead of the joint bomber flight, two Chinese Y-9 electronic intelligence aircraft flew between Okinawa and Miyako Island the Philippine Sea and returned to the East China Sea the same way in the morning. Imagery released showed one of the Y-9s being the rarely seenY-9LG variant, which entered service in 2022 and can be distinguished from other Y-9 variants due to its top mounted beam antenna. China deployed the Y-9LG variant overseas for the first time in Thailand during the Joint China-Thai air exercise Falcon Strike carried out from Aug. 18 -29 at Udon Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) in Udon Thani in northern Thailand.
Following the joint bomber flight, the Russian bombers flew circuits between Okinawa and Miyako Island and subsequently passed through the Tsushima Strait and flew over the Sea of Japan before returning to the Russian continent and that while the bombers were operating over the Sea of Japan, it was confirmed that one presumed Russian aircraft and two presumed Russian fighter jets were flying over the Sea of Japan, according to the release which also stated that in response, fighter jets from the Southwestern Air Defense Force command and other units of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) were scrambled.
China’s MND issued a short release on Saturday stating that on Nov. 30, the air forces of China and Russia completed the second phase of the ninth joint air strategic cruise in the western Pacific airspace. In a separate release on Sunday, MND spokesperson Snr. Col Zhang Xiaogang stated that from Nov. 29-30, the Chinese and Russian air forces went to the relevant airspace of the Sea of Japan and the western Pacific Ocean to organize and implement a joint air strategic cruise, which effectively tested and improved the joint training and operational capabilities of the two air forces, “The China-Russia joint air strategic cruise is a routine project in the annual cooperation plan, is not targeted at any third party, and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation”.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) on Saturday issued a release stating that the aviation group consisting of Tu-95ms strategic missile carriers of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Xian H-6 strategic bombers of the PLA Army Air Force carried out air patrols over the waters of the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the western part of the Pacific Ocean.
The MOD said that the duration of the joint flight of Russian and Chinese aircraft was about 8 hours though it did not make clear as to whether this was combined number of hours for both days or for each day’s flights. South Korea’s JCS clocked Friday’s passage of the joint bomber flight through the KADIZ as taking place from 9.35 a.m. to 1.53 p.m making a total of 4 hours and 18 minutes.
The MOD release stated that fighter jet air cover was provided along the entire route of the joint patrol by Su-30sm and MiG-31 fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Shenyang J-16 fighters of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and that during the joint air patrol, Russian aircraft landed and took off from an airfield in the People’s Republic of China. It also said at certain stages of the route, the strategic missile carriers were escorted by fighter-jets of foreign states, “In carrying out the flight mission, the aircraft of both countries acted strictly in accordance with the provisions of international law. There were no violations of the airspace of foreign states.”, read the release.
The release also stated that during the flight, the Tu-95m bombers performed aerial refueling at night, footage from the video released by the Russian MOD showed the Tu-95s carrying out mid-air refuelling with each other and a Chinese H-6 bomber. At the end of the joint air patrol, all the aircraft involved returned to their departure airfields said the release, “The event was conducted as part of the implementation of the 2024 military cooperation plan and was not directed against third countries,” concluded the release.
Both Russia and China have repeatedly said that the joint bomber flights are part of their regularly planned schedule of cooperation activities and are not targeted at any countries, Japan however claims otherwise, the Japan Ministry of Defence’s 2024 Defence of Japan defence white paper reads that “The repeated joint flights of bombers and joint navigations of ships between China and Russia are obviously intended as demonstration activities against Japan and are a grave concern for Japan’s security.”
