These intercepts underscore the chinese military's growing unmanned aircraft
capabilities, as well as the strategic significance of this body of water
which is one of a number of maritime passages linking the east china sea to
the philippine sea and the broader western pacific ocean.
This recent flurry of activity began on Augustus 24/2021 when alone tangan
tvo hold one scorpion medium altitude, long endurance male drone flew into
the east china sea northwest of Okinawa.
A single People's Liberation Army (PLA) Harbin BZK-05 male drone then flew a
sortie back and forth through the miyako strait yesterday.
Today another TB-001 conducted a similar flight through the Miyako strait.
In all three cases, the JASDF scrambled fighters to investigate the chinese
drones activities.
On both Augustus 25 and August 26 one Shaanxi Y-8-Q maritime patrol plane
and one Shaanxi Y-9 JB electronic intelligence aircraft accompany the drones
on their flights, according to japanese officials.
The JASDF did not report any other pla aerial activity related to the td001
sortie on augustus 24. The ZK-05 series drones are primarily long-range
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms and the
original design was reportedly capable of flying continuously for up to 40
hours at a time.
The standard BZK-05 which was first unveiled in 2006 has a single pusher
propeller, a pair of swept main wings and a twin boom tail configuration.
The PLA did also unveil an armed variant with a revised center fuselage,
known as the BZK-05C in 2018.
The main sensor system seen on most BZK-05 variants is a turret under the
nose of a type that typically contains a mix of electro optical and infrared
full motion video cameras.
Pictures emerged last year of another version of this drone, called the
BZK-05E with a radar system under the nose, instead and the electro optical
turret relocated to its lower central fuselage area. Pictures that the JASDF
released of the BZK-005 flying through the miyako strait this week show this
more recent configuration, with the radome under its nose and an under
fuselage optics turret.
The BZK-05 is capable of beyond line of sight operations via satellite
control and can be configured to be multi-intelligence gathering platforms.
The TV-001 scorpion is also a long endurance drone with a twin boom tail but
is substantially different in its overall design from the BZK-k05.
The larger scorpion, which was the first unmanned aircraft to come out of
tangan, a company that was only established in 2016 has a pair of engines,
each driving a single propeller, one on either side of its central fuselage
under its straight high-mounted main way.
Unlike the BZK-05 the TV-001 was designed from the outset as an arm drone
with four underwing hardpoints capable of carrying various stores, though it
also has a sensor turret underneath its central fuselage.
The pictures that the JASDF released of the scoprions that intercepted this
week do not show them carrying anything under their wings, but do show
additional sensor systems, possibly a radar or electronic intelligence
gathering pod, under their fuselages as well as various antennas scattered
around the airframe.
Regardless, these twin-engine drones can be equipped with multi-intelligence
gathering capabilities that are even more advanced than the TB-001 including
a radar mounted in their noses. They also have full beyond line of sight
operations capabilities.
Regardless these drone sorties are just another reminder of china's growing
unmanned capabilities and how they will soon become yet another major
tactical and strategic challenge in the increasingly tense indo-pacific
region.
