People’s Daily recently reported that Chinese Air Force aircraft encountered close interference from Japanese aircraft as they flew over the Miyako Strait during routine open-sea exercises. Two Japanese F-15 fighter jets launched jamming decoys against the Chinese aircraft. Another eight Japanese F-15 fighter jets as well as two U.S. electronic warfare aircraft covered the two Japanese fighters. Chinese military experts expressed the belief that Japan and the United States were jointly spying on China’s air combat capabilities. In response to China’s complaint, the Japanese Ministry of Defense refused to admit the launching of the decoys and called the Chinese description of the situation “unreal.” According to reports that the Taiwanese media published, the Japanese did mobilize ten F-15 fighters and the U.S. deployed one EP-3 and one RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.
Source: People’s Daily, December 14, 2016
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/1214/c1011-28947065.html