Russia Scrambles Foxhound and Su-35 to Intercept American Recon Plane Over Sea Japan

Amid rising tensions with the United States, Russia launched a Su-35 fighter and MiG-31 interceptor to escort an American RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft away from its territory over the Sea of Japan. The Defence Ministry stated regarding the incident: "On 11 July, the Russian airspace surveillance identified an air target over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan [East Sea], flying in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation.” The United States maintains a considerable military presence in Japan, which has long been seen as a key staging area for projecting power into the Russian Far East as well as onto China and the Korean Peninsula. The Su-35 and MiG-31 are considered the Russian Air Force’s two foremost aircraft for air to air combat, and following the Su-57 which has yet to enter service they were ranked third and second respectively among Russian designed aircraft. 

The MiG-31 today forms the bulk of the Russian combat fleet alongside the Su-27 and a fast growing number of Su-30 fighters, and is the heaviest and fastest modern aircraft of its kind in the world. The MiG has been pressed into a wide range of roles in recent years, including deploying hypersonic ballistic missiles for a long range anti shipping role from 2018 and satellite hunting. The Su-35, which has a lower operational cost and is considerably lighter, is in many ways a more modern design although it is less versatile than the MiG-31 and lacks comparable capabilities for strike, anti shipping or anti satellite roles. The fighter is currently in mass production for the Russian Air Force and a number of export clients, and has been deployed for multiple combat missions in Syria where it has on multiple occasions crossed path with Israeli, Turkish and American fighters.