Japan may station F-15 fighter jets near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu ) Islands to prevent incursions from China.

New Delhi, Jan 15/Nationalturk- In an attempt to prevent what it said any aggression and incursions from China, Japan may station F-15 fighter jets near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu)  Islands.

Japan’s newspaper, Japan Times quoted government  sources as saying that country’s Defense Ministry is considering stationing F-15 fighter jets at a remote airport halfway from Naha to Taiwan to speed up its response to airspace incursions by China near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands.

“The planes would be stationed on Shimojijima Island, which is much closer to the Japan-administered Senkakus, which China claims as the Diaoyu, than to Okinawa’s prefectural capital Naha, where the Japanese  F-15s are based,” sources said.

They said in mid-December, when a Chinese plane entered Japanese airspace over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the Japanese air force scrambled eight F-15 jets from the base in Naha. “But by the time they got near the disputed islands, the Chinese plane had already left”.

Naha Air Base is about 420 km away from the Senkakus, which means it takes around 15 to 20 minutes for an F-15 fighter jet to get there after an emergency takeoff.

It is pertinent to mention here that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told Defense Ministry officials to strengthen country’s border security measures.

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk Asia News