View source for 2002 Japanese airspace violation

{{Conjecture}}
{{Conflict
| preceding     = [[September 11 attacks]]
| following     = [[New Russian Federation uprising]]
| date          = May 23, 2002
| location      = [[Japan]]
| outcome       = Eventual development of [[ASF-X Shinden II]]
}}
Two unidentified aircraft violated Japanese airspace in May 2002, flying over the country at low altitude before disappearing. The event was considered a failure of Japan's national defense and eventually led to the development of the [[ASF-X Shinden II]].

==Background==
Following World War II, the Soviet Union (and later the [[Russia|Russian Federation]]) repeatedly violated Japanese airspace, including a Soviet [[electronic warfare]] aircraft that was {{Wp|1987 Okinawan Tu-16 airspace violation|intercepted in 1987}}. The [[United States Air Force]], and eventually the [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force]], named these violations "{{Wp|Tokyo Express (flights)|Tokyo Express}}" due to their regularity and how often they flew over [[Tokyo]]. After the fall of the Soviet Union, these violations reduced in number but continued to occur through 2001.

==Events==
On May 23, 2002, around 14:00 local time, two aircraft suddenly appeared in Japanese airspace, flying west from the Pacific Ocean. One flew over {{Wp|Kyushu}} and the other simultaneously flew over {{Wp|Hokkaido}}, the southernmost and northernmost islands of Japan, respectively. They flew at low altitude, estimated to be around {{convert|300|m|abbr=on}}, and at supersonic speed over populated cities. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens witnessed the event, either by directly seeing the planes or hearing their [[sonic boom]]s. They were last seen by a civilian fishing boat in the Sea of Japan before completely disappearing.<ref name="MasterFile-026">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 026.</ref>

All countries surrounding Japan claimed to not be involved, and no terrorist organization took responsibility. Officials could not determine what bases the aircraft took off from or landed at. The lack of attribution led to wild speculation in the media, including theories on meteors, aliens, and even the existence of [[Scinfaxi-class submarine|large submarines capable of launching aircraft]].<ref name="MasterFile-026"/>

[[Japan Self-Defense Forces|Japan Self-Defense Force]] and [[United States of America|United States]] radars did not detect the aircraft at all. A vague image taken by U.S. satellites confirmed the aircraft had delta wings, but any further identification was not possible.<ref name="MasterFile-026"/>

==Aftermath==
The incident took place less than a year after the [[September 11 attacks]]. With the public's increased awareness of defense, many citizens pointed out that the aircraft could have easily dropped bombs.<ref name="MasterFile-027">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 027.</ref> Thus, the Japanese and American governments initiated fundamental reviews of Japan's air defense system.<ref name="MasterFile-026"/>

The incident led [[Taiga Heavy Industries]]'s president to envision a new fighter aircraft to succeed Japan's aging [[F-4E Phantom II|F-4EJ]]s.<ref name="MasterFile-024">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 024.</ref> Sometime after 2003, the company began developing a new fighter aircraft<ref name="MasterFile-032">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 032.</ref> that would borrow design elements from their next private [[airliner]], the [[TFJ-01 GoldStar]].<ref name="MasterFile-024"/>

In the following years, Japan increased its defense spending and the U.S. military increased its presence in East Asia. Neither of these met strong opposition from neighboring countries, which some military experts took as evidence that neighboring countries were not responsible for the incident.<ref name="MasterFile-027"/> In November 2008, the Japan Self-Defense Forces formally agreed to purchase Taiga's new fighter, the ASF-X Shinden II, for official military use.<ref name="MasterFile-032"/>

Japanese airspace violations continued over the following years,<ref name="MasterFile-027"/> increasing in frequency starting in March 2015.<ref name="MasterFile-032"/> This period was said to be even more tense than that of the Tokyo Express violations.<ref name="MasterFile-027"/> Later review saw the September 11 attacks and the 2002 airspace violation as warnings that criminal organizations such as [[Blatnoi]] would become more involved with terrorism.<ref name="MasterFile-027"/> Blatnoi eventually funded the [[New Russian Federation]], which [[battle of Tokyo|directly attacked Tokyo in 2018]].<ref name="MasterFile-069">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 069.</ref>

The type of aircraft involved in the incident was never officially identified. The description of "unidentified delta-wing aircraft" correlates with the United States Department of Defense's initial name for the [[CFA-44 Nosferatu]], "Uni-D" (for "Unidentified-Delta").<ref name="MasterFile-105">''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Master File]]'', page 105.</ref>

{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Horizon universe timeline]]