The Japanese military says the Russian patrol plane violated its airspace three times.
Japan Self-Defense Force fighters used infrared countermeasures to provide warning upon contact with the Il-38.
This was announced on Monday, September 23, by the head of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, Minoru Kihara, SCMP reports.
The military official thus confirmed that the Asian country used IR traps against a Russian fighter jet for the first time.
According to the Japanese side, the Il-38 violated the country's airspace three times.
It allegedly happened in the north near Rebun Island, 45 km from the northwest coast of Japan's second largest island, Hokkaido.
According to Japanese military estimates, each fighter run lasted about 1 minute.
Kihara said that F-35s were scrambled because of this, and their pilots used IR decoys against the Il-38s several times.
