Intel

Chinese and Russian Warplane Flyby Spurs South Korea To Scramble Fighters

November 30, 2022Nolan Peterson
Xian H-6k bomber, flyby

A Xian H-6K bomber landing at Zhuhai Jinwan airport ahead of Airshow China 2018. Photo by Alert5 via Wikimedia Commons.

Chinese and Russian warplanes entered South Korea’s air defense zone on Wednesday, Nov. 30, spurring Seoul to scramble fighter jets. The encounter highlighted a trend of increasingly aggressive Chinese military behavior in the region, as well as the tightening military ties between Beijing and Moscow.

The aircraft involved in Wednesday's incursion included four Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Russian Su-35 fighters, which joined two Chinese H-6 bombers, the Seoul-based news outlet Yonhap reported. The formation spent 18 minutes within South Korea’s air defense zone, or KADIZ, entering at 12:18 p.m. and exiting at 12:36 p.m., according to news reports.

Earlier in the morning, two Chinese H-6 bombers had twice entered South Korea’s KADIZ from different directions. Some five hours later, South Korea reportedly scrambled F-15K fighters to intercept the combined Russian-Chinese formation.

Tu-95

A Russian Tu-95 Bear 'H' photographed from a RAF Typhoon Quick Reaction Alert aircraft (QRA) with 6 Squadron from RAF Leuchars in Scotland on April 23, 2014. Photo by Royal Air Force via Wikimedia Commons.

"Our military dispatched air force fighter jets ahead of the Chinese and Russian aircraft's entry of the KADIZ to implement tactical measures in preparation for a potential contingency," South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, or JCS, said in a statement, Reuters reported. The JCS added that the Chinese and Russian warplanes did not cross into South Korea's internationally recognized airspace.

An air defense zone is the boundary past which a country requires inbound aircraft to identify themselves. Unlike airspace limits, international law does not define the boundaries of air defense zones. Russia does not recognize South Korea’s air defense zone.

Russian and Chinese air operations also spurred Japan to scramble fighters on Wednesday, according to a press release by Japan’s defense ministry.

A Tuesday Department of Defense report warned of increased Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific region. China "presents the most consequential and systemic challenge to U.S. national security and the free and open international system,” stated the annual report, titled the "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China.”

Apart from China’s more aggressive military operations, the report also warned that China could nearly quadruple the size of its nuclear arsenal by 2035, growing from 400 warheads to some 1,500. The reported added that China is increasingly relying on its military might "as an instrument of statecraft as it adopted more coercive and aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region."

Wednesday's combined air operations comes amid extraordinary anti-government protests in China, as well as the deadly grind of Russia’s ongoing, full-scale war against Ukraine. Increasingly isolated by Western sanctions, Russia has become more economically reliant on China this year. China, for its part, has largely stood by Russia, viewing Moscow as a partner in resisting Western influence and power.

According to Tuesday's Pentagon report: "As the [People's Republic of China] seeks to achieve 'national rejuvenation' by its centenary in 2049, this report highlights Beijing's ambition to reform the prevailing international rules-based system."

After invading Ukraine this year, Russia has also forged closer ties with North Korea. US officials have repeatedly said that North Korea is supplying Russia with artillery shells, feeding the demand of Russian forces, which depended on massive artillery barrages to inch ahead in eastern Ukraine over the summer.

"The information we have is that the DPRK is covertly supplying Russia with a significant number of artillery shells," Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, said during a Nov. 8 press briefing.

Read Next: Embedded With US Air Force Nuclear Missile and Bomber Units

Nolan Peterson
Nolan Peterson
Nolan Peterson is a senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine and the author of Why Soldiers Miss War. A former US Air Force special operations pilot and a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Nolan is now a conflict journalist and author whose adventures have taken him to all seven continents. In addition to his memoirs, Nolan has published two fiction collections. He lives in Kyiv, Ukraine, with his wife, Lilya.
More from Coffee or Die Magazine
Humor
Dear Jack: I'm Retiring From The Military — Help!

In this installment of “Dear Jack,” Marine veteran Jack Mandaville helps a career service member figure out life after retirement.

March 31, 2023Jack Mandaville
navy chaplains suicide prevention
Military
US Navy Deploys More Chaplains For Suicide Prevention

Growing mental health distress in the ranks carries such grave implications that the U.S. chief of n...

March 31, 2023Associated Press
ukraine lessons learned
Opinion & Essay
Nolan Peterson: Lessons From Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

After living in and reporting from Ukraine the last nine years, conflict journalist Nolan Peterson h...

March 30, 2023Nolan Peterson
black hawk crash kentucky
Military
9 Killed In Army Black Hawk Helicopter Crash In Kentucky

Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said Thursday morning that the deaths happened the previous night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.

March 30, 2023Associated Press
richard stayskal act military medical malpractice
Military
DOD Denies Most Stayskal Act Malpractice Claims

Master Sgt. Richard Stayskal was diagnosed with lung cancer long after military doctors missed a tum...

March 29, 2023Maggie BenZvi
ukrainian wounded soldiers
Intel
‘On Tour In Hell’: Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers Evacuated

With bandaged heads and splinted limbs, the wounded soldiers are stretchered into the waiting medica...

March 27, 2023Associated Press
US oil mission
Military
US Launches Airstrikes in Syria After Drone Kills US Worker

While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded airstrikes in Syria, the attack and the ...

March 24, 2023Associated Press
The Gift jason dunham
Entertainment
‘The Gift’ Explores the Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Jason Dunham

"The Gift" tells the story of the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor after the Vietnam War. ...

March 24, 2023Mac Caltrider
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
Contact Us
  • Request a Correction
  • Write for Us
  • General Inquiries
© 2023 Coffee or Die Magazine. All Rights Reserved