American edition defense news He said the Chinese WZ-8 supersonic reconnaissance aircraft was discovered in Planet Labs’ satellite imagery.
According to the authors of the article, the image shows the upgrade of the Luan airbase in eastern China’s Anhui province. In particular, runway coverage has been improved, taxiways have been widened, and new hangars for drones have been built.
According to the authors, the H-6M bomber acts as a carrier for the WZ-8 – the UAV is attached to the aircraft under the fuselage.
The WZ-8 is said to be capable of Mach 3 (3,675 km/h) at altitudes up to 30 km and can conduct reconnaissance flights over Taiwan.
Before The Washington Post said It’s about a classified US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) document containing satellite imagery dated August 9, 2022, showing two WZ-8 reconnaissance jet aircraft at an airbase in eastern China. The document also states that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has “almost certainly” deployed its first drone unit to the base, which is subordinate to the Chinese Armed Forces unit responsible for “executing Beijing’s demands for sovereignty over Taiwan”.