Japanese and British fighter planes meet for first time since World War Two

Record ID: 84081

  • Title: Japanese and British fighter planes meet for first time since World War Two
  • Date: 22nd October 2016
  • Summary: MISAWA, JAPAN (OCTOBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** BRITISH ROYAL AIR FORCE FIGHTER JET, TYPHOON EUROFIGHTER, LANDING AT MISAWA U.S. MILITARY BASE TWO MILITARY PERSONNEL WATCHING AS JET LANDS TYPHOON EUROFIGHTER LANDING TWO BRITISH MILITARY PERSONNEL WATCHING AS TYPHOON EUROFIGHTER LANDS PLANE TAXIING TYPHOON EUROFIGHTER TAXIING AND FLASHING ITS WHITE LIGHTS PLANE TURNING VARIOUS OF JAPAN AIR SELF DEFENCE FORCE PERSONNEL STANDING GUARD NEAR FOUR TYPHOON EUROFIGHTERS APPLAUSE AS BRITISH ROYAL AIR FORCE LIEUTENANT COLONEL, ROGER ELLIOT, WALKS UP TO JAPAN AIR SELF DEFENCE FORCE MAJOR GENERAL, KOJI IMAKI, AND SHAKES HANDS VARIOUS OF ELLIOT AND IMAKI EXCHANGING GIFTS AND SHAKING HANDS ELLIOT SPEAKING JOURNALISTS FILMING BRITISH AND JAPANESE MILITARY PERSONNEL ELLIOT AND IMAKI SMILING
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2016 12:49
  • Keywords: Japan Britain military exercise Misawa military base
  • Location: MISAWA, JAPAN
  • City: MISAWA, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
  • Reuters ID: LVA001553593B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Four British Royal Air Force Typhoon Eurofighters arrived in Japan on Saturday (October 22) for joint drills. It will be the first time since World War Two that British fighter planes will take on Japanese aircraft.
    The joint practice at Japan's northern Misawa Air Base starts on Sunday and will be the first time Japan's air force train at home with a foreign force other than that of the United States.
    The jets and a C-17 support plane touched down early in the evening under overcast skies.
    Both countries want to hone scramble techniques to counter foreign military aircraft approaching their airspace.
    Both regularly shadow Russian planes and the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) scrambles when Chinese jets approach its southwestern border.
    As China's control of the neighbouring South China Sea tightens, Japan worries that Beijing's attention is turning toward the East China Sea where Japan controls a chain of islands stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) towards Taiwan.
    In the six months to the end of September, Japanese fighters took off to chase Chinese planes 407 times compared with 231 times a year earlier, according to the JASDF. Encounters with Russian bombers and surveillance planes, which fly in from the north rose 67 percent to 180 incidents.
    The Typhoon visit is also an opportunity for Japan's air force see Europe's most advanced jet as it looks at proposals for developing a new fighter to replace its F-2s.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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