Japan’s Defense Ministry has spotted a Chinese drone flying over the East China Sea, which has been identified as a TB-001 drone, and its performance is under scrutiny.
Japan’s Defense Ministry’s Unification Bureau of Staff Supervision released a news release on Aug. 25 saying that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces spotted a drone over the East China Sea on Aug. 24. The Japanese Ministry of Defense also released a schematic of the drone’s flight path and a clear photo of the drone taken at close range, presuming it to be a Chinese TB-001 Scorpion drone.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also said that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces urgently deployed fighter jets in response.
The TB-001, developed by China’s Sichuan Tengden Technology, first flew in 2017 and is also known as the “Twin Tail Scorpion”, with a weapon load of 1 ton, a maximum altitude of 9.5 kilometers, a maximum flight time of 35 hours, and a satellite mid-continuity remote control, and a combat radius of 3,000 kilometers.
In terms of combat, the TB-001 Scorpion combat drone can carry a number of missiles and precision-guided bombs. Some photos show that the aircraft carried three different types of missiles and guided bombs, a total of eight, during its test flight.
If equipped with China’s latest small air-to-ground missiles developed for the Rainbow and Wing-Loong series of combat drones, or at the expense of range, the drone could easily carry up to 24 guided weapons.
The drone could also carry guided weapons with greater single shot weight, such as multiple 250 kg guided bombs, to attack more solid targets.
In addition, Japanese Defense Ministry source said that on August 24, the Chinese Navy Type 055 10,000-ton destroyer Nanchang, Type 052D destroyer Guiyang, Type 903 large integrated supply ship Hoh Xil Lake and an electronic reconnaissance ship (port number 799) crossed the Soya Strait and entered the Sea of Okhotsk from the Sea of Japan.