PLA spy drone circles Taiwan again as Beijing tests new tactics
- Unmanned aerial vehicle loops around island as jammer plane and other military aircraft patrol west of the island and hover near median line
- Observers say operations signal mainland plans to routinely deploy drones and is experimenting with electromagnetic warfare techniques
It was at least the second time the ministry has detected mainland drones engaged in so-called island encirclement patrols with warplanes, showing drone deployment would become a routine operation, analysts said.
“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.
A flight tracking map released by the ministry showed a BZK-005 long-range drone had looped around the eastern side of the island, flying clockwise from north to south, while other aircraft hovered to the southwest and near the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait.
Observers said the use of a Y-8 EW, or electronic warfare jammer, indicated Beijing might be testing new electromagnetic warfare tactics.
The BZK-005 drone is believed to have a satellite datalink antenna inside its nose bulge to help it connect with Beijing’s medium- and high-altitude satellites.
“The PLA might have tested something new by having the Y-8 jammer plane work together with the BZK-005 drone, connecting them together with [the drone’s] satellite communication datalink system,” Lu said.
The flight path provided by Taipei showed the drone avoided flying close to the Japanese radar station on the Japanese island of Yonaguni, northeast of Taiwan.
Japan’s air defence force said it detected a Chinese drone flying over the Pacific Ocean and east of Taiwan on Tuesday. It did not identify the type of Chinese drone but said the aircraft “had flown towards the Bashi Channel” south of Taiwan.
“The information released by the Japanese forces indicated the Taiwanese military had been cooperating with their Japanese counterparts to monitor the PLA,” Lu said, adding that it would be “impossible” for the Japanese radar station on Yonaguni to monitor the entire area on its own.
On Friday, the Taiwanese military detected two drones – a TB-001 and a BZK-005 – circling the island while 17 fighter jets hovered to the southwest, signalling the PLA was trying to use a low-cost strategy to enter the island’s ADIZ.
Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong noted that in the recent operations, both the TB-001 and the BZK-005 were deployed to fly more than a loop around Taiwan, showing the maximum range of the drones likely exceeded 2,000km (1,243 miles).
“The PLA’s routine drone deployments for ‘island encirclements’ indicate Chinese drone technology has become more mature and reliable,” he said.
The PLA began deploying combat drones around Taiwan in 2020 as part of its “island encirclement patrols”. In addition to reconnaissance drones, Beijing has sent tactical and damage assessment drones on regular patrols around the island.
