TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The military is monitoring and developing response strategies to a new electronic warfare (EW) variant of a Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted northeast of Taiwan.

This aircraft appears to be a new version of China's Harbin BZK-005 medium-altitude, long-range UAV, which has repeatedly entered Taiwan and Japan's air defense identification zones (ADIZ), per Liberty Times. Japan's Ministry of Defense on Friday (Aug. 9) photographed a BZK-005 UAV flying in the Miyako Strait with antennas under its nose and a suspected pod with an unknown purpose under its belly.

According to the announcement from Japan's defense ministry, a Chinese BZK-005 reconnaissance drone flew from the East China Sea on Friday, passing between Okinawa and Miyako Island, reaching the western Pacific, and returning along the same route. However, the photos released by Japan show that this BZK-005 drone is markedly different from previous BZK-005 drones also photographed by the Ministry of Defense. 

This variant is suspected of being a new EW version of the BZK-005 drone. On Sunday (Aug. 11) a military source told the newspaper the Ministry of National Defense is aware of the development, deployment, and use of drones by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and it has already taken appropriate countermeasures.

The source said foreign experts assessed that the PLA added various EW antennas and pods to some of its drones to enhance their EW capabilities. These enhancements may include full-spectrum jamming and radio communication disruption. 

The PLA might use these capabilities to interfere with Taiwan's military command and control systems during the initial stages or ongoing phases of an attack on the country, rendering the military's radar systems ineffective and making it difficult for various precision missiles to target or intercept PLA aircraft and missiles, said the source. 

In addition, the U.S. military has also warned Taiwan to be aware that the PLA might use small drone swarms equipped with microwave reconnaissance, jamming devices, or electromagnetic weapons. These drones could enter Taiwan's airspace to launch electronic warfare and various jamming activities.

In recent years, the PLA has increased its use of drones operating around Taiwan. In addition to the BZK-005 reconnaissance drone, the Tengden TB-001 reconnaissance and strike UAV, dubbed the "Twin-Tailed Scorpion," poses a new threat to Taiwan due to its reconnaissance and attack capabilities.

The BZK-005 is a large, multi-purpose drone with a maximum flight time of up to 40 hours and a cruising altitude of 3,000 to 7,000 meters. Depending on the mission, it can be equipped with various payloads, such as electro-optical sensors, radar, communications intelligence, radar detection, and communications relay pods, enabling it to perform long-duration reconnaissance, surveillance, ground strikes, and battle damage assessment tasks.