Japan jets scrambled at Chinese drones up threefold on-year

Japan scrambled jets in response to Chinese drones 30 times during the past year, the military said, up over threefold year-on-year as Beijing bolsters its air force.

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“Overall, we are seeing the trend staying at a high level,” Japan’s military chief of staff Yoshihide Yoshida said at a press conference on Thursday.

In the financial year to March 31, Japan scrambled fighter jets 704 times to intercept foreign aircraft.

Of those, 464 -- or 66 percent -- were for aircraft or drones that are known or believed to be from China, Japan’s Joint Staff said, down slightly from 479 times in 2023-24.