New Delhi: As the sun rose high on Sunday (October 3, 2021), a fleet of 16 aircrafts roared over Taiwan airspace as the People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in a cheeky act of bellicosity continued to intimidate the island country with aggressive air sorties.
The 16 aircraft included four Su-30s, eight J-16s (designed from the Sukhoi-27), two Y-8 submarine hunters and two KJ-500 AEW&C. If anything, the fleet connotes the preponderance of Russian fighter airframes in PLAAF.
And in less than six months, six Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft from the Indian Air Force (IAF) will battle F-15 Eagle fighters of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) near the north Japan coast in a joint military exercise that has already been postponed twice in the past due to the ongoing pandemic.
It would be the first time that the JASDF gets to match capabilities with an aircraft of Russian origin.
Initially slated for June 2020 at the Komatsu Airbase, the joint exercise was postponed to July 2021 at the Hyakuri Airbase before being put off again.
While the Su-30 and the J-16 hail from the Russian Sukhoi family—although India’s HAL now license-produces it in India, the F-15 is made by the Americans.
Also read: Chinese warplanes fly toward Taiwan for 2nd straight day
Besides the IAF, the Su-30 is in active use in the PLAAF and also in the Russian military. PLAAF deploys nearly 100 Su-30s.
In effect, a friendly exercise with Japan will familiarize the JASDF with the basic strengths and weaknesses of the Su-30 as also other aircraft from the Sukhoi family.
Notably, Japan is far from being friendly with either China or Russia. While Japan-China hostilities are legacy issues and are broad-based including territorial disagreements, Japan has land territorial issues with Russia. Japan has already experienced air hostility by Su-30 fighters belonging to both China in the East China Sea and by Russia near to the islands of dispute.
Although Japan is a self-imposed pacifist nation that has denounced war in accordance with Article 9 of its Constitution, there are increasing signs that it may consolidate military forces in the backdrop of Chinese belligerence.
With India-Japan military bilateral ties getting quite a traction especially after the formalization of the US-led Quadrilateral Security Dialogue of the ‘Quad’ which is understood to be a grouping on the anti-China platform, how Russia reacts to the latest development remains to be seen.
Historically, India and Russia have been close military allies with about 70 per cent of India’s operational combat aircraft in the IAF inventory being of Russian origin which includes Sukhois, MiG-21s, MiG-27s, and MiG-29s.
Also read: China sends 25 fighter planes toward Taiwan on National Day
But of late, a certain apprehension is believed to have crept in the ties due to India’s fast growing proximity to the US.
In fact, the US has vociferously opposed India buying the S-400 air defence missile system from Russia by often alluding to the provisions of the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act).
The US on its part has also been keen to reduce Indian dependence on Russian weaponry. And the latest move to send Su-30 aircraft for the Japan exercise will further lend steam to that effort.
