Strategic bombers and warplanes from China and Russia conducted a joint strategic patrol over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and western Pacific on Saturday, drawing scrambled U.S. and allied intercepts and protests from Japan and South Korea.
The defense ministries of China and Russia announced the strategic warplane patrol in what the Beijing ministry called a demonstration of “resolve and capability to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.”
In response, U.S. F-35 jets, Japanese F-15 jets, and unspecified South Korean military aircraft were dispatched to monitor the flights, according to allied military statements and video footage released by the Russian military.
The six-hour patrol included between 10 and 15 warplanes, identified in regional government statements as four nuclear-capable Chinese H-6 and four Russian bombers — two Tu-95s and two Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft.
The bombers were escorted by Chinese J-16, J-11, and J-10 fighters and Russian Su-30 and Su-35 jets. Refueling aircraft, command and control aircraft and electronic warfare jets also took part.
“The Chinese and Russian air forces conducted their 11th joint strategic air patrol in the airspace over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean, demonstrating shared determination and capability to safeguard regional peace and stability,” the official Chinese military website China Military stated on Saturday.
The last time that China and Russia conducted a joint strategic patrol was in December 2025.
A “strategic patrol” is a patrol by military aircraft or naval vessels that can employ strategic weapons within the range of the weapons to be able to immediately attack an enemy country, according to a Japanese air force report on the patrols.
Strategic weapons are nuclear arms and other high-impact weapons that can cause major damage to an enemy, said the June 2025 report by Japan Air Self Defense Forces’ Air and Space Studies Institute.
Japan’s Defense Ministry estimated that 15 aircraft took part in the patrol. The ministry posted photos of the bombers and a map on X showing their route from the Sea of Japan and through a strait in the southern Japanese islands and into the western Pacific.
A Pacific Command spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, despite the use of American F-35s from Japan during the bomber intercepts.
The flights prompted an official rebuke from both Japan and South Korea.
On Sunday, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi called the strategic patrol a threat to Japan.
Mr. Koizumi said at a news conference in South Korea, where he met with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, that repeated joint warplane flights by China and Russia “signify an expansion and intensification of their activities in the vicinity of Japan, and we are compelled to view them as a show of force directed at our country.”
Information on the strategic patrol was shared quickly between Japan and South Korea, Mr. Koizumi said.
Mr. Koizumi also noted the importance of joint cooperation between the U.S., Japan and South Korea in describing what he called “the regional security environment becomes increasingly severe and complex.”
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement to reporters that the Chinese and Russian aircraft entered and exited the nation’s air defense identification zone over the East Sea, or Sea of Japan and East China Sea. The zone is not territorial airspace.
South Korean jets were sent to intercept the aircraft, the statement said.
The South Korean Defense Ministry issued a formal complaint to the Chinese and Russian embassies in Seoul on Sunday, the ministry stated in a post on Facebook.
In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said in a statement: “The Russian Aerospace Forces and the People’s Liberation Army Air Forces of China have conducted another joint air patrol in the Asia-Pacific region. An air group consisting of Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers and Chinese Hong-6K strategic bombers carried out air patrols over the waters of the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean. The combined flight lasted approximately six hours.”
Russian state media outlet Tass reported that the joint patrol operated within international law and did not violate any foreign airspace.
China’s state outlet Global Times quoted a military expert as saying the latest strategic bomber patrol showcased an increase in different types of military aircraft with “improved performance and greater system integration for the joint strategic patrols.”
Key features for Chinese operations during the patrol were the addition of electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft to provide intelligence support, the Chinese outlet stated.
Aerial refueling aircraft also carried out in-flight refueling during the patrol.
Global Times also said the J-16s were outfitted with “live munitions” and their electronic gear were able to gather signals intelligence from foreign radar for use in future jamming.
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