On March 14, a radio broadcast by a female air traffic controller in Taipei Area Control Center (TACC) was sent to a local television station. The clip, which was recorded around 11:30 Taipei Time, features the controller warning a foreign aircraft to leave the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
In the clip, the controller notes that the unidentified aircraft’s transponder was squawking 1400. A search on FlightRadar24 revealed that a U.S. Navy EP-3E from VQ-1 was in the area five hours earlier and squawking 1400 as well.
The same controller then warns the aircraft that it is interfering with flight operations within the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) and is not within international airspace. She instructs the aircraft to leave immediately. Later in the clip, a male voice can be heard praising the controller’s message. It is believed that the male voice belongs to a pilot on one of the civilian aircraft passing through the Taipei FIR.
It is interesting to note that during this time, a U.S. Army Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System (ARES) platform operated by L3Harris was in the same area as well. The L3Harris ARES aircraft is a missionized Bombardier Global business jet that has been modified to serve as the ARES platform. The aircraft completed its first flight on Jul. 21, 2021, less than six months after L3Harris inducted a green Bombardier Global business jet into its Waco, Texas aircraft modification center. It is a contractor-owned, contractor-operated manned aerial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (A-ISR) solution managed by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation’s Fixed Wing Project Office. Boasting a remarkable endurance of up to 14 hours at mission altitudes above 41,000 feet, the ARES is equipped with a range of advanced features, including the ability to host up to 14,000 lbs. of mission payload and the power to run the Army’s longest-range sensors.