Japan's defense minister said the use of flares was a legitimate response to airspace violation and "we plan to use it without hesitation."

Russian patrol aircraft were intercepted by Japanese fighter jets after Moscow's planes violated the Western-ally's airspace, Tokyo has said.

The Russian aircraft intruded three times and ignored radio warnings, prompting flares from Japan’s self defense aircrafts.

After a Russian military patrol aircraft violated Japanese airspace, Japan's Self-Defense Force dispatched an aircraft that, for the first time, fired flares in 'an anti-airspace violation action.'

In a rare move, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled F-15 and F-35 fighter jets from the Northern Air Defense Forces to intercept a Russian IL-38 patrol aircraft that violated Japanese airspace.

The Japanese government announced on Monday that a Russian patrol aircraft breached its airspace three times, prompting a formal warning.