Japan’s military detected and intercepted another Chinese long-range drone over the contested waters around its southwestern islands last week.
A TB-001 reconnaissance and attack drone flew over the East China Sea on Friday, the Japanese Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office reported. It transited the strategic Miyako Strait and headed to the wider Pacific Ocean.
Newsweek‘s map illustrates the flight path taken by the Chinese drone as it changed its course over the Philippine Sea after passing through the strait, flying toward the southwest instead of returning to its original point of departure in China.
Japan is a security ally of the United States and has disputes with China in the East China Sea, where the Tokyo-control Senkaku Islands—known as the Diaoyu islets in Beijing— are located. Chinese vessels have patrolled around the islands for more than 200 consecutive days.
The Miyako Strait lies between Japan’s islands of Miyako and Okinawa. It forms the so-called first island chain, a series of islands that stretch from the Japanese archipelago through Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo, and down to the Malay Peninsula.
The strait has become a major waterway for China’s navy to access the wider Pacific Ocean for operations and exercises. Japan has deployed anti-ship missile launchers on Okinawa in response to the rapidly increasing Chinese naval activities.
The TB-001, dubbed the Twin-Tailed Scorpion, is classified as a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, according to manufacturer Sichuan Tengden. It has a maximum range of approximately 3,700 miles and is capable of carrying munitions.
It was the second time the Japan Air Self-Defense Force had intercepted this type of Chinese drone this month. During the last encounter on July 8, however, the TB-001 returned to its original point of departure in China after transiting the Miyako Strait.
During Friday’s incident, the drone seemed to be flying toward airspace between Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Japan’s Joint Staff Office. This indicates the drone might have returned to southern China after passing east of Taiwan.
Newsweek has contacted the Chinese defense ministry for comment by email.
Beijing views the self-ruled island as a breakaway province and deploys military aircraft and vessels around Taiwan on a daily basis, causing tensions in cross-strait ties.
A Chinese military observer on X (formerly Twitter) noted that China sent different TB-001 drones for the two flights by identifying their serial numbers from images. The first drone bore “JD-1052” while the second one was “JD-1051.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was spotted in the Philippine Sea by Japan’s military on July 9, three days before the second TB-001 flew over the same waters. It was not immediately clear whether the drone operated with the carrier on Friday.
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