• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Chinese spy drone flies east of Hualien as Han Kuang drills begin

ROC Central News Agency

07/26/2022 06:48 PM

Taipei, July 26 (CNA) The Japanese military reported a Chinese reconnaissance drone flying in international waters off the coast of Hualien County as Taiwan kicked off the live-fire phase of its annual Han Kuang military exercises on Monday.

According to a Japanese defense ministry release that day, the TB-001 drone flew from the East China Sea through the Miyako Strait between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyakojima and into the Pacific Ocean.

Nicknamed the "Twin-Tailed Scorpion," the TB-001 is a medium-altitude, long-range combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by China's Sichuan Tengden Technology.

Although Taiwan was not directly mentioned in the release, a map which came with the Japanese defense ministry report showed the TB-001 drone turned southwest from the Pacific Ocean and then into the airspace east of Taiwan were it flew in a loop for a time.

The last reported heading of the TB-001 was the Bashi Channel, a waterway between the south of Taiwan and the northern Philippines.

On Tuesday, Taiwan's defense ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) did not comment directly on the Japanese report, except to say that the military closely monitors Chinese military maneuvers in waters and airspace around Taiwan and has the ability to ensure the country's security.

Meanwhile, a military source told CNA Tuesday that two Chinese military vessels were spotted in international waters off Taitung County's Green Island in the morning.

The vessels were spotted at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., respectively, said a military official who declined to be named.

The first was a missile frigate, which was spotted 41 nautical miles southeast of Green Island, while the other was a surveillance ship about 45 nautical miles northeast of the island, the official said, and both were sailing southward at the time.

The sightings occurred as Taiwan conducted a joint naval combat readiness drill in eastern Yilan County in the morning, during the second day of the live-fire phase of the annual Han Kuang military exercises.

(By Matt Yu, Tyson Lu and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW