The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has scrambled fighter jets twice this week upon detecting Chinese military aircraft and drones operating near Okinawa, according to official press releases from the Japanese Joint Staff. 

On February 26, 2025, Chinese military drones operating near Okinawa tested Japan’s air defenses. From morning to afternoon, a BZK-005 reconnaissance drone – plus, for the first time, a Chengdu GJ-2 (also known as Wing Loong 2) reconnaissance and attack drone – were tracked flying from the East China Sea, passing between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island, before entering the Pacific Ocean. 

Both drones flew south of Okinawa Island and toward the waters off Amami Oshima, before reversing course and returning to the East China Sea via the same route.  

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