ChinaDrones

Japan Intercepts Chinese TB-001 ‘Twin-Tailed Scorpion’ Drone Over East China Sea

Published on: August 20, 2026 at 11:42 PM CEST
Parth Satam Parth Satam
Japan Intercepts Chinese TB-001
The TB-001 intercepted and photographed by JASDF fighters on Aug. 18, 2026 over the East China Sea. (Image credit: Japan MoD)

The TB-001 was intercepted alongside a Y-9Z electronic warfare aircraft as Chinese and Russian aircraft continue to operate in Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

Japan has said China’s Tengden TB-001 “Twin-Tailed Scorpion” surveillance-strike drone has been probing its airspace, triggering scrambles by Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) fighter jets. The Tengden TB-001 is a large Chinese Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) capable of carrying a substantial weapons payload that first appeared in 2022.

On Aug. 18, 2026 and a month prior on Jun. 12, the Japan MoD’s Joint Staff photographed and officially identified the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle UCAV alongside an accompanying Y-9Z “High New” Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Warfare (EW) aircraft over the East China Sea (ECS), off western Japan. Japan’s Minister for environment and nuclear emergencies Shinjiro Koizumi called the Jun. 12 interception of the TB-001 the “first time” the UCAV was intercepted around Japanese waters.

The Y-9Z has been periodically intercepted lately, with the latest incident being on Aug. 19, and before that on Jul. 6 and Aug. 12. The first time the Y-9 SIGINT aircraft was encountered around Japan was in August 2024.

The intervening period also saw interceptions of Russian Ilyushin Il-20 Coot-A SIGINT aircraft on Jul. 24 and Aug. 10, continuing a consistent pattern of Russia’s individual and joint patrols with Chinese aircraft around Japan.

The intercepts

On both occasions, the TB-001 flew various patterns in a north-south direction off the Nagasaki and Okinawa Prefectures. The Japan MoD said about the Aug. 18 interception:

“On August 18 we confirmed that a Chinese military information-gathering aircraft (Y-9) and a reconnaissance/attack-type unmanned aerial vehicle (TB-001) flew over the East China Sea from off the Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture to off the main island of Okinawa, and in response, we scrambled fighter aircraft from the Air Self-Defense Force’s Western Air Defense Force and other units.”

Regarding the Jun. 12 interception, the Joint Staff similarly had named both the aircraft and identified their route as coming “over the ECS from the south of Nagasaki Prefecture’s Danjo island to off the coast of Okinawa’s main island.” The tracks showed that on both occasions the Y-9 turned west towards China after heading north, while flying circular routes at some point in its journey.

Both their routes were very close and overlapped briefly. While the available data do not establish whether the two aircraft were operating as a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) pair, their overlapping flight paths are notable. The U.S. and Australia have already demonstrated larger special mission aircraft like the E-7A Wedgetail and P-8A Poseidon could be used to control drones like the MQ-28A Ghost Bat and the MQ-4C Triton.

Koizumi said about the Jun. 12 TB-001 intercept, while calling it a “reconnaissance/attack-type” UAV: “This unmanned aerial vehicle is noted as a model that possesses long-range and long-endurance flight capabilities and can be equipped with anti-ship and surface-to-surface missiles. We will continue to maintain utmost vigilance in surveillance and take all necessary measures against airspace violations.”

TB-001

The Tengden TB-001 is a twin-tail boom and a tri-turboprop heavy drone, with the third rotor being a pusher propeller. It has a reported payload of 1.2 to 3 tonnes, and an endurance of 40 hours, according to available data.

However, it must be noted that Japan’s official in-flight images of the TB-001 reveal some differences from the drone’s known configuration. In fact, the aircraft features an antenna atop the starboard (right-side) vertical stabilizer and has a visible flight-data probe.

Officially emerged in 2022 and unveiled in the 2022 edition of the Zhuhai Air Show, the drone captured attention owing to the massive representative payload of air-to-ground munitions it has been displayed and flown with. The TB-001 also has a large electro-optical ball turret.

Y-9 intercepts

The Y-9Z that was intercepted on Jul. 6 flew a circular north-south circuit. On Aug. 12, it flew a one-way north-to-south, according to the tracks.

The four-engine turboprop Shaanxi Y-9 is a popular Chinese carrier aircraft for special mission roles like Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). Observers have classified the as a Y-9-based SIGINT aircraft part of a family of progressively improved systems, beginning with the Y-9G.

The Y-9Z features large rectangular arrays on the rear fuselage (likely related to the EW/SIGINT payload), a canoe-like ventral fairing on the underside and a dome-shaped sensor under the chin (usually hosting maritime radars with synthetic radar imaging capabilities), as well as another dorsal fairing on the spine just behind the wings (possibly a SATCOM antenna).

There is another unidentified fairing on top of the horizontal stabilizer. Pipe-shaped sensors across the front-side fuselage and blade-shaped antennas along the spine, above the cockpit and the underside usually are related to encrypted radio communications and the communications intelligence (COMINT) role.

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By Parth Satam
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Parth Satam's career spans a decade and a half between two dailies and two defense publications. He believes war, as a human activity, has causes and results that go far beyond which missile and jet flies the fastest. He therefore loves analyzing military affairs at their intersection with foreign policy, economics, technology, society and history. The body of his work spans the entire breadth from defense aerospace, tactics, military doctrine and theory, personnel issues, West Asian, Eurasian affairs, the energy sector and Space.
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