Defense News By: Mike Yeo 8/23/2019
The head of the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific has suggested that a recent Russian-Chinese air patrol may be an attempt to divide regional partners. The event resulted in warning shots fired by intercepting South Korean jets.
Speaking at a teleconference with reporters, Gen. Charles Brown said the joint air patrol involving bomber aircraft from Russia and China over the East China Sea on July 23 was “planned out ahead of time, and so we do want to pay attention to the activities that either [China], Russia — that they do in concert together.â€
The patrol saw a pair of Russian Tupolev Tu-95 long-range bombers and a similar number of Chinese Xi’an H-6K bombers fly over international airspace between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, triggering interceptions by South Korean and Japanese fighter jets as they entered the air defense identification zone of both U.S. allies.
In addition, a Russian Beriev A-50 airborne early warning aircraft twice flew within 12 miles of the South Korean-administered island of Dokdo during the same morning, which resulted in South Korean fighter jets firing more than 300 rounds as warning shots during the encounter. The ownership of the island is disputed by Japan, which calls it Takeshima.
More:
https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/08/23/russian-chinese-air-patrol-was-an-attempt-to-divide-allies-says-top-us-air-force-official-in-pacific/
