TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two anti-submarine aircraft that intruded into Taiwan's air defense identification one (ADIZ) on Thursday (Aug. 26), included a Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine warfare helicopter (Z-9 ASW) for the first time.
On Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported that one Z-9 ASW and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft (
Taiwan's Air Force responded by sending combat air patrol (CAP), broadcasting radio warnings, and tracking them with land-based anti-aircraft missiles.
Harbin Z-9 ASW. (PLA photo)
The presence of the Z-9 ASW helicopter was significant because it is the first time that the MND has announced an intrusion by the aircraft in Taiwan's ADIZ.
The most recent reference to the helicopter by China's state-run media was on July 25, when the Global Times announced that Z-9 reconnaissance helicopters and Z-10 attack helicopters from the People's Liberation Army 74th Group Army had recently conducted "diurnal and nocturnal live-fire exercises" off the southern coast of Fujian Province, which sits directly across from Taiwan.