According to reports from local media, Japan has recently deployed its F-2 fighter jets to carry out simulated anti-ship attacks against Chinese Navy aircraft carriers, with the exercises taking place in areas north of the Senkaku Islands. In particular, the activities occurred during the past month of June, when Beijing had, for the first time, two of its aircraft carriers operating simultaneously in waters near the island nation, highlighting the marked increase in the Asian Giant’s naval activities in the Indo-Pacific.
Specifically, government sources indicated that the simulated attacks were conducted by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and that the choice of the previously mentioned area of operations was due to the passage of the aircraft carrier Liaoning —one of the two China deployed at the time in disputed waters. It was clarified that the ship and its escort were no longer in the area surrounding Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, through which they had transited in late May along with the Luyang III-class destroyers CNS Qiqihar (121) and CNS Tangshan (122), complemented by the Jiangkai II-class frigates CNS Binzhou (515) and CNS Anyang (599).
With this in mind, and given the fact that the F-2 fighters conducting the exercise lack stealth characteristics, Japanese officials stated that the main purpose of the exercise was to publicly demonstrate to China that the country had taken note of its carriers’ passage in nearby waters and was taking measures to ensure its defense. Speaking to Yomiuri Shimbun, one of them said: “Given the circumstances, location, and content, this drill was an attempt to clearly convey to China the message that we were taking countermeasures.”
It is also worth recalling that, even though the exercises only confirmed attack procedures against ships, Japan’s F-2 fighters possess a significant capability to neutralize enemy vessels with their supersonic ASM-3 missiles. These are without doubt one of the main assets in the aircraft fleet’s arsenal, making them stand out in this regard even over the F-16 aircraft on which their design is based, considering that the latter do not always have such weapons available.
On the other hand, looking more broadly at the Chinese carrier exercises at the time, it was the first time the People’s Liberation Army Navy had sent both the Liaoning and the Shandong beyond the First Island Chain in the Pacific —a line defined by the United States as part of its containment strategy. The deployment lasted about a month, during which over one thousand aircraft and helicopter takeoffs from both ships’ decks were conducted, and served as an opportunity to train the crews in combat maneuvers against an enemy carrier strike group.
At all times, the Chinese elements deployed remained under surveillance by their Japanese counterparts, especially through their P-3C Orion patrol aircraft. This also made news in early June due to the dangerous interception maneuvers by Chinese J-15 fighters, which sought to push them away from the vessels involved in the exercises. These incidents occurred on two consecutive days, lasting 40 and 80 minutes, respectively.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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