A large-scale Chinese military drone flying in the South China Sea was recently found to be frequently sending false transponder signals, disguising itself as a sanctioned Belarusian cargo plane, a North Korean passenger plane, or even a British Royal Air Force fighter jet.
Military analysts pointed out that this could be a test to disrupt the enemy’s detection and decision-making capabilities during wartime, and based on the flight trajectories, it could be a rehearsal for a potential future invasion of Taiwan.
According to data from the flight tracking website FlightRadar24 analyzed by Reuters, since last August, a Chinese large military drone with the code name YILO4200 has conducted at least 23 such flights. The flight paths sometimes originate from China’s Hainan Island, heading east towards the Philippines near the disputed Paracel Islands, or flying south along the Vietnamese coast.
By transmitting false 24-bit identification codes, the drone appeared on radar as the Belarusian Rada Airline’s Il-62 cargo plane, the British Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fighter jet, a North Korean passenger plane, or an anonymous Gulfstream business jet.
While such disguises are unlikely to completely deceive air traffic controllers or military-grade radar, they could create chaos, delay enemy actions, obscure sensitive surveillance activities, or be used to disseminate false information during conflicts.
Ian Petchenik, Communications Director of FlightRadar24, told Reuters, “Based on the flight patterns and the use of the 24-bit codes, it doesn’t look like a mistake in transponder settings.”
Ben Lewis, founder of the open-source data platform PLATracker, stated, “We have never seen a situation like this before.”
He noted that China’s actions represent a “real-time deception test,” with deliberate choices of disguises that are distinct and attention-grabbing.
Data shows that during a flight in August last year, the drone switched identities four times within just 20 minutes before landing as a Belarusian cargo plane.
Another notable incident occurred on November 18th when the drone was flying as a “Belarusian aircraft,” while the real Rada Airline’s Ilyushin Il-62 jet had just taken off from Belarus heading to Tehran.
Singaporean security analyst Alexander Neill stated that China’s operations in Hainan appear to be part of a new strategy in electronic warfare, aimed at “muddying the waters” during regional tensions escalation.
Neill believes these actions are more like what the US Indo-Pacific Command describes as “conflict rehearsals” rather than mere exercises.
“As long as it creates confusion for their adversaries, it serves their interests,” Neill said.
It is currently unclear whether the drone flies automatically along preset routes or is controlled from the ground. However, these flight paths often cross over heavily trafficked naval areas, including waters south of Hainan near Chinese submarine bases and through the Bashi Strait towards Taiwan and the Philippines.
Neill indicated that by comparing these 23 flight paths with Taiwan’s position on the map, it is apparent that the routes are precisely targeted towards multiple military points along the coast of northern and southern Taiwan.
“YILO4200” corresponds to China’s Wing Loong 2 drone, which has reconnaissance, command and control, and precision strike capabilities.