PLA warplane enters Taiwanese military target zone minutes before drill begins
- The island’s air force scrambles jets to shadow 11 aircraft which included fighters, bombers and surveillance planes
- One Y-8 electric warfare aircraft is said to have entered the firing target zone, ignoring warnings that a military exercise was about to begin
The six fighter jets, two bombers and three surveillance aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ) between 9.30am and 10.22am. The Taiwanese air force responded by scrambling jets to shadow the PLA warplanes, issuing radio warnings and deploying air defence missile systems to monitor their activity, the island’s defence ministry said.
According to a public announcement by the island’s navy, a joint flight level drill with the Taiwanese air force was due to begin in the same area at 10.30am and last until 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon.
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Several local news media outlets, including SET TV, said a PLA Y-8 electric warfare aircraft had entered the firing target zone, ignoring the announcement warning aircraft and vessels to stay away from the area where the island’s military was staging the drill.
The SET TV report quoted local aircraft spotting website Southwest Airspace of Taiwan which said another Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft had crossed the Bashi Channel into an area off the Jiupeng missile base, test site for the island’s top weapons maker the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
According to the website, the incursion also coincided with a US naval mission involving an EP-3E spy plane and P-8A anti-submarine aircraft near Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ and the Bashi Channel.
China has been staging an extensive air and sea military exercise near the island in response to “provocations” by Taiwan independence forces, which it has described as the biggest security risk across the Taiwan Strait.