TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 35 Chinese military aircraft and 15 naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 26) and 6 a.m. Friday (Oct. 27).
The defense ministry said that 35 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and 15 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels were detected. Of the aircraft, 23 had crossed the median line or entered the north, southeast, and southwest sectors of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), it said.
The aircraft tracked in the ADIZ included: one Xi'an JH-7 fighter-bomber, one BZK-005 Reconnaissance (RECCE) drone, six Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, six Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, one CASC Rainbow CH-4 RECCE drone, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft (Y-8 ASW), one Shaanxi Y-9 communication countermeasure aircraft (Y-9 CC), one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic intelligence (Y-8 ELINT) spotter plane, four Shenyang J-11 fighters, and one one Harbin Z-9 ASW helicopter.
The JH-7 fighter-bomber and some of the J-10 fighters crossed over the northeastern end of the median line. The J-16 fighter jets and some of the J-10 combat aircraft flew over the center of the median line, while other J-10 fighters flew over the southwest end of the median line.
The CH-4 drone crossed the southwest end of the median line and entered the southwest ADIZ. The BZK-005 drone crossed the northeastern end of the median line and flew in a clockwise path that encircled much of Taiwan including the northern, eastern, southeastern, and southwestern sections of the ADIZ.
The Y-8 ASW and Y-9 CC aircraft flew just off the southwest edge of the ADIZ and entered the southwest ADIZ. The Y-8 ELINT aircraft, the J-11 fighters, and the rest of the J-16 fighters flew in the southwest corner of the ADIZ to the northeast of the Dongsha Islands.
The Z-9 ASW helicopter flew in the eastern section of the ADIZ.
The MND said it monitored the situation with its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system and, in response, scrambled combat patrol aircraft, dispatched naval vessels, and deployed land-based air defense missile systems.
Since September 2020, Beijing has increasingly employed the use of gray zone tactics in the form of deployments of military aircraft and naval vessels over the median line and inside Taiwan's ADIZ.
According to CSIS, gray zone tactics are “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resorting to direct and sizable use of force."
