British fighter planes will take on Japanese aircraft for the first time since World War II in aerial combat drills following the arrival in Japan on Saturday of four Royal Air Force Typhoon Eurofighters.

The joint practice at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture was to start this week and will be the first time Japan's air force has trained at home with a foreign force other than the United States.

The jets, along with a C-17 support plane, touched down early in the evening under overcast skies, their high-pitched screams prompting some onlookers to cover their ears.