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SDF patrol plane ‘repeatedly lit up’ by South Korean vessel: Japan
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This photo taken on October 13, 2011 shows a P-3C patrol plane of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force flying over the disputed islets known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and Diaoyu islands in China, in the East China Sea. Japanese military and paramilitary planes have flown through China's newly declared air zone without any resistance from Chinese jets, an official and a report said on November 28, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JAPAN POOL via JIJI PRESS JAPAN OUT
(AFP/-)
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apan’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it has confirmed that the Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol plane that was lit up by the fire-control radar of a South Korean Navy destroyer was “lit up multiple times by radio waves unique to fire-control radars for a certain period of time and continuously.”
The Japanese ministry’s assertion runs counter to South Korea’s explanation that the destroyer did not use a fire-control radar.
The South Korean Defense Ministry at a press conference on Monday denied having used a fire-control radar, explaining that the destroyer was searching for a missing fishing boat and suggesting that a search and fire-control radar — capable of simultaneously scanning the air and the ocean’s surface — was used.
The South Korean ministry also claimed that the patrol plane had flown directly over the destroyer and that the destroyer did not respond to radio communication from the aircraft because it was faint.
The Japanese ministry denied the aircraft had flown over the destroyer, saying “the patrol plane maintained a certain altitude and distance, and did not fly over the destroyer at low altitude.” Regarding radio communication, the ministry said the plane called the hull number of the South Korean Navy vessel on three different frequencies and asked in English why it was being lit up by radar.
