As the Chinese military has increased its frequency of entry into the Pacific Ocean in recent years, the number of interceptions of Chinese ships and aircraft by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces has increased, which has brought new pressure to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces pilots in the front line. Japan’s Asahi TV released a recent interview with F-15 pilots from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Naha base on Dec. 25.
Faced with the continuous sorties of Chinese military planes, 35-year-old first-class air captain Yuki Ohara told Asahi TV that he would take off whenever his superior gave the order to respond to “harassment”, no matter it was day, night, or rest day. He told TV Asahi, “The most stressful moment for me was when I saw the ‘Chinese fighters’ with my own eyes. It made me realize once again that I was working at the front line.”
Asahi TV said the Air Self-Defense Force Naha base is the frontline base for responding to Chinese warplanes, and on the very day the Asahi reporter arrived at the base for an interview, the camera caught two emergency takeoffs of F-15s a day.
Ms. Yuka, the wife of Yuki Ohara, said that the pilot’s job is very dangerous, so she is mentally prepared and will definitely send him out the door even early in the morning when he goes to work.
The Naha base is home to the 9th Air Regiment of the Air Southwest Air Force, which has a total of 40 F-15J/DJs from the 204th and 304th Flights. The Naha base has long been responsible for intercepting and monitoring Chinese military aircraft heading east out of the western Pacific Ocean. On Dec. 10, 2016, when Chinese Air Force aircraft went to the western Pacific Ocean for routine long-range training via the Miyako Strait airspace, the JASDF Naha base had deployed a group of two F-15 fighter jets to carry out close-range interference and launch jamming bombs against Chinese aircraft.
On the 21st of this month, the Ministry of Defense of Japan’s Integrated Staff and Supervision Department informed the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation sailed 300 kilometers east of Kitadaito Island on the 19th, and from about 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. that day, the Liaoning’s J-15 carrier-based fighters and the Z-8 naval helicopters conducted flight landing training. The SDF fighter jets took off urgently to respond to aircraft from the Liaoning carrier. According to the photos released by the Japanese side, at least two of the J-15 fighter planes that conducted the landing and take-off training were taking off with ammunition.
At the end of the program, the Asahi Shimbun quoted sources as saying that the number of Chinese aircraft approaching airspace near Japan is expected to exceed 500 this year (2021).