Tokyo: More than 50 US and Japanese warplanes flew over waters near Japan this week as the two allies put on a show of force amid rising tensions in the region with China and Russia, CNN reported on Friday.
A dozen of the US Air Force's top-of-the-line F-22 stealth fighters, four F-35 stealth jets and 13 F-15 jets took part in the exercises, the Japanese Defense Ministry said in a news release Thursday.
The US fighter jets were joined by 20 Japanese F-15 and F-2 fighters, and three US reconnaissance and support aircraft.
The Japanese and US fighter jets flew in the skies over the Sea of ??Japan, Pacific Ocean and East China Sea in an effort to improve tactical skills and "joint response capability," the Japanese Defense Ministry said.
Also this week, US and Japanese maritime patrol aircraft conducted an exercise near the Nansei Islands, the closest Japanese territory to Taiwan and near the Senkaku Islands, the uninhabited island chain also claimed by China, which refers to them as the Diaoyus, the report said.
That exercise was conducted to "strengthen the capability of the Japan-US Alliance for effective deterrence," the Japanese statement said.
|