Taiwan’s military unveiled a new unmanned reconnaissance and search drone during a drill on Tuesday, that stimulated a mainland Chinese attack on the island’s Taoyuan International Airport.

The drill was carried out by the joint battalion of the army’s 584th brigade, which aimed to hone the battalion’s suppressive fire capabilities, battlefield surveillance abilities and defense skills.

The helicopter drone revealed in the exercise has a maximum altitude of 3,000 meters (1.9 miles) and a range of five kilometers, said Huang Yu-ting, the commander of the 584th brigade, adding that it can withstand gusts up to 41 to 51 kilometers per hour (25 to 32 miles per hour). It is expected to be deployed by the first quarter of 2022, the island’s Ministry of Defense added.

The drone was revealed amid the worsening relationship between Taipei and mainland China. Since the middle of last year, Beijing has sent fighter jets, bombers and surveillance planes to Taiwan’s airspace as a large show of intimidation towards the island, which it considers part of its territory.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play