TB-001 Scorpion

A Chinese twin-boom MALE unmanned combat aircraft used for long-endurance ISR, maritime surveillance and strike carriage, best known for PLA pressure flights around Taiwan and Japan's southwestern approaches.

Overview

The TB-001 Scorpion, also known as the Twin-Tailed Scorpion, is a Chinese medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by Sichuan Tengden Technology Innovation Co., Ltd. It occupies a distinct niche in China's UAV ecosystem: unlike AVIC's Wing Loong family or CASC's CH-series drones, the TB-001 comes from a smaller Chengdu-based firm that the China Aerospace Studies Institute describes as privately owned but state-sponsored, with PLA-facing customers and "Little Giant" industrial-policy status through CASI.

The aircraft is visually unusual for its twin-boom tail and twin-engine layout, with a later three-engine derivative adding a pusher engine to improve payload, ceiling and short-field performance. In PLA service it has become a visible pressure and surveillance platform, particularly around Taiwan's air-defense identification zone and the Miyako Strait, while export activity has centered on Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

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