Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Saturday morning that it had detected 20 Chinese military aircraft entering the island’s air defense identification zone over the last 24 hours, including a rare public mention of combat and spy drone flights along Taiwan’s eastern coast.
In addition to a TB-001 combat drone, known as the “twin-tailed scorpion” in China, and a BZK-005 surveillance drone, the ministry said the Chinese aircraft included J-10 and Su-30 fighter jets, as well as anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft.
The TB-001, which has a maximum range of 6,000 kilometers and can carry missiles and precision guided bombs, flew to the north of Taiwan before heading southeast and then out into the Pacific and returning along rough the same path, a map released by the Taiwanese Defense Ministry showed.