Taiwan has accused Beijing of conducting a manoeuvre encircling the island nation with a long-range surveillance drone. This is the second instance of China carrying out such an operation. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) dispatched a long-range surveillance UAV to operate above the autonomous nation of Taiwan from Tuesday to early Wednesday morning. It was backed up by a transport aircraft equipped with sophisticated jammers.
In a tweet, the Ministry of National Defence, R.O.C., said, “27 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond [to] these activities.”
Chinese drone deployment to become a ‘routine operation’
“The deployment of drones to Taiwan’s air identification zone is a low-cost and effective approach by the PLA to test and consider some new tactics, which will definitely become routine operations,” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
The flight path released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence showed the presence of the following aircraft:
- Su-30 X3
- J-10 X4
- J-16 X2
- BZK-005 UCAV X1
- Y-8 technical reconnaissance plane X1
- Y-8 EW jammer plane X1
- Y-8 anti-submarine plane X1
A BZK-005 long-range drone circled the eastern edge of the island while others lingered to the southwest and close to the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait. The SCMP citing observers stated that Beijing may be trying new electromagnetic warfare strategies, as evidenced by the usage of a Y-8 EW jammer.
The Taiwanese military noticed two drones, a TB-001 and a BZK-005, circling the island on Friday while 17 fighter jets hovered to the southwest, indicating the PLA was attempting to penetrate the island’s ADIZ using a low-cost tactic.