USNI News

Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft scrambled fewer times against foreign aircraft during Fiscal Year 2023 compared to FY 2022, according to Japan’s Joint Staff Office. 

A Friday report showed a total of 669 scrambles for FY 2023, or from April 1 2023 through March 30, 2024. In FY 2022, the JASDF scrambled 778 times. 

Chinese aircraft accounted for 479 of the FY 2023 scrambles, or 72 percent of the overall total, though this was a decrease of 96 from 575 in FY 2022. Scrambles against Russian aircraft totaled 174, 26 percent of the overall total, and represented an increase of 24 from 150 in FY 2022. The majority of the scrambles involving China and Russia were against intelligence gathering aircraft, according to the JSO, which did not provide exact numbers. The remaining 16 scrambles included a single scramble against Taiwanese aircraft and two against North Korean aircraft, which were included in the 3rd quarter scramble reports. There were 13 other scrambles that did not include details.

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