Between October 27 and 28, Japan’s Self-Defense Forces were placed on alert following the detection, on both days, of frigates and cruisers belonging to the Chinese and Russian navies operating near the coasts of the Japanese archipelagos. In response to this situation, the forces ordered the readiness and deployment of assets to monitor and track the activities of the Russian and Chinese vessels, using a P-3C Orion aircraft from the 5th Maritime Air Group, based at Naha Air Base, located in Okinawa.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Defense, the detected frigates belonged to the Jiangkai II class (or Type 054A), escort vessels in service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy, with a displacement of nearly 4,000 tons and designed for anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare missions—making them some of the principal units in China’s surface fleet. This latest transit aligns with a continued trend of the Chinese Navy projecting its forces beyond the so-called “first island chain,” increasing pressure in an increasingly sensitive strategic environment around the Okinawa archipelago and southwestern Japan.
In this context, the JMSDF confirmed that the identified frigates were the Binzhou “515” and Anyang “599,” which were detected sailing approximately 80 kilometers west of Kume Island, in Okinawa Prefecture, before continuing their transit southeast and passing between Okinawa and Miyako toward the Pacific. Surveillance operations were carried out by a P-3C Orion aircraft from the 5th Maritime Air Group, which maintained both visual and electronic tracking of the vessels throughout their passage through the area.
The maritime space between Okinawa and Miyako constitutes a strategic access route to the western Pacific and falls under the operational responsibility of the Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). Japanese authorities have already warned that the movements of Chinese units—and, at times, Russian ones during joint operations—aim to assess Japan’s response capabilities, collect sensor data, and, above all, strengthen regional naval projection.
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