Chinese WZ-7 High Altitude Surveillance drone Spotted near Taiwan for First Time

The Taiwanese military tracked some Chinese 26 aircraft on September 15 including the WZ-7 High Altitude Surveillance drone, 'Soaring Dragon,' which it said has been spotted for the first time in Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The WZ-7 Soaring Dragon is claimed to be comparable to the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk meant to perform continuous visual and electronic surveillance over wide swathes of land and sea.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, 26 Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft and five ships had been detected around Taiwan.

Of these, two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and two Xi’an JH-7 fighter bombers crossed the median line: One Guizhou BZK-007 drone flew just off the southwestern edge of the median line, and four Shenyang J-16 fighters, one Shaanxi Y-9 electronic warfare plane, and one Guizhou WZ-7 Soaring Dragon entered the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, Taiwanese media reported quoting MND data.

Taiwan's Air Force responded by sending combat air patrol planes, broadcasting radio warnings, and tracking the Chinese aircraft with land-based anti-aircraft missiles.

The appearance of the WZ-7 is notable because this is the first time it has been spotted intruding in Taiwan's ADIZ, according to MND data.

"The appearance of the BZK-007 and WZ-7 follows a pattern of increasing intrusions by Chinese drones into Taiwan's ADIZ. It is not yet clear whether China is shifting its incursions in the ADIZ from manned to unmanned aircraft or planning a blend of both,”  taiwannews.com.tw commented.