On 20 March,  the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled fighter jets to intercept Chinese anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) aircraft, commonly known as submarine hunter plane.

Japanese fighters scrambled to intercept one People’s Liberation Army Air Force Y-8Q GX6 submarine hunter aircraft operating over the East China Sea.

It should be noted that JASDF has identified aircraft as Y-9. Despite having a Y-8 prefix, the Y-8Q is actually based upon the modernized Y-9 tactical airlifter, rather than the older Y-8.

The Y-8Q, also designed as Y-8 GX6, is a Chinese modern maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft equipped with seven-meter-long Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) boom, which detects the magnetic signature of enemy submarines’ metal hulls as the aircraft flies over them.

Y-8Q likely also features a number of multirole mission consoles in its mission cabin, along with a mission planning area, and a rest area featuring bunks for long duration missions.

According to the current information, Chinese submarine hunter planet weighs 61 tons, cruising speed of 660 kilometers per hour. Aircraft can carry more than five tons of detection radar, sonar buoys, depth charges and torpedoes.

The Y-8Q designation is a reference to the aircraft being the sixth of the “GaoXin” (High New) special mission aircraft based off the Y-8/9 platform. Other aircraft of the “GaoXin” family include the Y-8W/Y-8GX5 AEW&C aircraft, as well as the Y-9JB/Y-9GX8 ELINT/SIGINT aircraft.