Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 77; Flight Crew Type 10207
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Human-Machine Interface
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict NMAC; Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types
Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure; Airspace Structure; Human Factors
TCAS RA on flight route from ZZZZ AFB to ZZZ. We were on Y52. We noticed two aircraft on TCAS and with audio in contact with Fukuoka ATC Control radio in front of us heading directly in front; 12 o'clock towards us head on. Altitude of two aircraft varied from below 1000 and to our altitude of 26000 ft. TCAS alerts were activated. One of the involved aircraft's call sign was Aircraft Y. Opposing aircraft now at our same altitude; 26000 ft.; closing fast.TCAS warning; 'Traffic-Traffic;' aural followed by TCAS RA and; 'Descend;' aural warning followed. Initiated evasive maneuver. I; the Captain; with minimum map scale on display could see opposing aircraft also now descending into our flight path. Initiated flight control input with verbal command that co-pilot continue to fly while I also inputted left lateral evasive maneuver to avoid collision. I noted our separation on TCAS was less than 100 ft. in red color. Increased separation was noted and aircraft flight was stabilized back to 26000 ft. No visual contact. Possible loss of 300 to 1000 ft. of altitude of our aircraft due to evasive maneuver. Cabin crew felt evasive maneuver with no injuries reported of passengers or crew.
Air carrier Captain reported an NMAC with traffic from the opposite direction during cruise flight.