The Tengden TB-001 is a

medium-altitude long-endurance A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer This ...

(MALE)

unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

(UCAV) designed by

Sichuan Tengden Sichuan Tengden Technology, previously known as Tengoen Technology and Tengdun Technology is an privately-owned drone manufacturing company that specializes in the development and manufacturing of medium-to-large unmanned aerial systems for milita ...

. It is used by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

Development

The TB-001 was first unveiled in September 2017. In 2020, the three-engined variant of the TB-001 was unveiled, reportedly taking less than six months to develop.

Design

The TB-001 uses a

twin-boom A twin-boom aircraft is characterised by two longitudinal booms (extended nacelle-like bodies). The booms may contain ancillary items such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support ...

design. It has a pair of turbocharged-piston engines, each driving a three-bladed propeller on either side of the central fuselage, underneath a straight high-mounted wing.

Operational history

In August 2021, the TB-001 was twice spotted in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

by the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

. In the first encounter, the TB-001 flew over the East China Sea unaccompanied, and in the second encounter it flew through the

Miyako Strait The , also known as the Kerama Gap, is a waterway which lies between Miyako Island and Okinawa Island consisting of a 250km-wide passageway with international waters and airspace. It is the widest strait in the Ryukyu Islands. Political significa ...

alongside two

Shaanxi Y-9 The Shaanxi Y-9 () is a medium military transport aircraft produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Company in China. It is a stretched and upgraded development of the Shaanxi Y-8F. Development Development of the Y-9 may have begun as early as 2002 as th ...

aircraft.

Variants

TB-001: Base variant. TB-001A: Developed from the original TB-001. Upgraded with an additional engine on the tail.

Maximum takeoff weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...

increased from 2,800 kilograms of the original TB-001 to ,

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

from 1,200 kilograms to , and

flight ceiling With respect to aircraft performance, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions, as determined by its flight envelope. Service ceiling Service ceiling is where the rate of climb drops below a pres ...

from 8,000 metres to 9,500 metres (9,000 m sustained).

Takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a t ...

distance is shortened to 500 metres and has maximum

rate of climb In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...

of over 10 metres per second. The maximum flight endurance is 35 hours, the same as TB-001.

Operators

;

Specifications

References

2000s Chinese military aircraft 2010s Chinese military aircraft Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles People's Liberation Army Navy Twin-boom aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of China {{aero-2000s-stub