The F-15K and the F-16K each carry a single M61A1 20mm Vulcan cannon , a six-barrel Gatling gun that fires up to 6,000 rounds per minute. A total of 80 warning shots would equate to just under a one-second-long burst from one gun.

"The Air Force instantly deployed multiple jets, including F-15Ks and F-16Ks, and sent warning messages to it in accordance with operation manuals," an unnamed officer from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Yonhap News Agency . "But the plane [the A-50] did not respond, so one of our aircraft fired some 10 rounds of flares and 80 warning shots."

The confrontation occurred on July 23, 2019 , local time, as the Russian and Chinese aircraft flew into the South Korean Air Defense Identification Zone, or KADIZ , prompting the South Korean Air Force to scramble F-15K Slam Eagle and KF-16C/D Viper fighter jets, also sometimes referred to as F-16Ks, to intercept them. The incident turned more serious when the A-50 reportedly flew over actual airspace South Korea claims above the set of islets , which it refers to as Dokdo. Japan also claims these as its national territory, calling them collectively Takeshima, and registered its own complaint that the Mainstay had violated Japanese national airspace.

Russia has disputed that one of its military aircraft violated South Korea's national airspace over a small grouping of islets in the Sea of Japan, as well as reports that South Korean fighter jets fired approximately 360 20mm cannon shells in a series of warning shots during the altercation. The incident occurred during a joint Russian-Chinese aerial patrol involving two Tu-95MS Bear bombers and an A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control aircraft from Russia's military flying together with a pair of China's H-6K bombers .

The A-50 left, but returned again to the airspace above the islets relatively soon thereafter, prompting South Korean jets to fire another 10 flares and 280 warning shots, according to South Korean officials. South Korea says this is the first time a foreign aircraft has ever violated its national airspace since the end of the Korean War. Officials in Seoul made formal complaints to both the Russian and Chinese ambassadors to South Korea over the flights around Dokdo/Takeshima and in the KADIZ. Japan's Ministry of Defense subsequently released pictures of the A-50, seen at the top of this story, as well as the other Russian and Chinese aircraft, from its own intercepts. In addition, it provided a map that also asserted that the Mainstay had flown within the territorial limits around the islets. Japanese officials also lodged a separate complaint about the South Korean jets flying in airspace over what they claim as their national territory.

Japan Ministry of Defense A picture that the Japan Air Self Defense Force took of one of the Russian Tu-95MS bombers during an intercept of the long-range patrol.

Japan Ministry of Defense One of the Chinese H-6K bombers that took part in the long-range patrol.

Japan Ministry of Defense Maps showing the reported routes taken by the Tu-95s and H-6s, at left, as well as the A-50's flight over the Dokdo/Takeshime islets.