A Chinese TB-001 Scorpion medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone has flown an apparently unprecedented mission around Taiwan, according to authorities on the island. The drone sortie came as part of the latest spike in Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air and naval activity in the Taiwan Strait, something that has become more commonplace in recent months. However, according to local reports, this is the first time that Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has publicly acknowledged that a PLA aircraft ‘encircled’ the island in this way.
The Scorpion drone first crossed the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, then headed up the east coast of the island, before crossing back toward the Chinese coast, according to a press release from the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense. Another Chinese MALE drone, a BZK-005, also flew part of the way around Taiwan on a similar course but turned back roughly halfway between the island and the median line that serves as a de facto boundary between it and the mainland.
The flight paths of the different PLA aircraft that the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense says crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered its southwest, southeast, and northeast Air Defense Identification Zones between April 27–28. Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense
The two drones were part of a group of 38 PLA aircraft that the Ministry of National Defense says it detected around Taiwan in the 24 hours leading up to 6:00 A.M. local time on April 28th..
Of those aircraft, the Taiwanese defense ministry says that 19 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan’s southwest, southeast, and northeast Air Defense Identification Zones, or ADIZ. While it’s not uncommon for PLA aircraft to cross the median line, the scale of such activity has increased notably in recent times. The ADIZ is a broader area Taiwan monitors and patrols and it’s worth noting that this covers not only the entirety of the strait but also portions of mainland China, too.
Interestingly, the TB-001 and BZK-005 have in the past both also been noted conducting operations in the East China Sea, something that you can read more about here and, more generally, long-range Chinese drones are a more familiar presence for over-ocean intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) in the first island chain — the first chain of major Pacific archipelagos that stretches out from the East Asian continental mainland coast.
A TB-001 over the East China Sea in August 2021, in an official photo released by the Japan Ministry of Defense. Japan Ministry of Defense
While the Taiwanese defense ministry’s release classed the TB-001 and BZK-005 as “recce” drones, it’s notable that the first of these types was designed from the outset as an armed drone, with four underwing hardpoints capable of carrying various stores, though it also has a sensor turret underneath its central fuselage. Larger than the single-engine BZK-005, the TB-001 shares the twin-boom tail configuration but is substantially different in its overall design.
The TB-001, which was the first unmanned aircraft to come out of Tengoen, a company that was only established in 2016, has two engines, each driving a single propeller, one on either side of its central fuselage under its straight, high-mounted main wing.
There is no confirmation of whether the TB-001 involved in today’s flight was carrying any weapons, but even when configured for long-range ISR, the drone offers some impressive capabilities. The TB-001’s multi-intelligence gathering capabilities include a radar in the nose, various external pods, likely including ones with electronic intelligence payloads, and various antennas scattered around the airframe. The TB-001 is also capable of full beyond-line-of-sight operations.
In the past, the PLA has flown what it describes as “island encirclement” missions with the nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, although these have tended to involve the aircraft venturing only relatively briefly along the east coast of the island, before swinging back, as seen in the mission of November 21, 2021, shown below. Using the TB-001 to fly a similar but extended mission profile is seemingly unprecedented, at least in recent times.
Top Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images
Source: The Drive