1987 Okinawan Tu-16 airspace violation

The 1987 Okinawan Tu-16 airspace violation (対ソ連軍領空侵犯機警告射撃事件, Tai Soren-gun ryōkū shinpan-ki keikoku shageki jiken) was an incident on December 9, 1987 in which a Tupolev Tu-16P Badger J1 (an electronic warfare version of the Tu-16 bomber) of the Soviet Air Force repeatedly entered Japanese airspace over Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures.

This prompted a F-4EJ Phantom fighter of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) to fire warning shots on two occasions.

[5] Long-ranged Tu-16 aircraft regularly passed Japanese territory traveling between Vladivostok in the Soviet Union to Vietnam.

On the evening of December 9, the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs announced that they would protest the airspace violation to the Soviet government.

At his retirement speech on January 14, 1988 Lieutenant General Edward L Tixier, the commander of the US Fifth Air Force mentioned that US aircraft had also been airborne, monitoring the situation.

Cam Ranh Base during the Soviet era ( Tu-142Ms pictured)
A Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 similar to the model that entered Japanese airspace
Japan Air Self Defense Force F-4EJs of 302 Squadron
Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita protested the violation of Japan's airspace