The US Air Force deployed an RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance drone at Yokota Air Base on Monday night, starting a five-month operation in Tokyo, Japan Times reports. The drone, the first of five to arrive in Japan, is tasked to survey…
The US Air Force deployed an RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude surveillance drone at Yokota Air Base on Monday night, starting a five-month operation in Tokyo, Japan Times reports. The drone, the first of five to arrive in Japan, is tasked to survey ballistic missiles and nuclear facilities in North Korea, and is part of the 69th Reconnaissance Group Detachment 1. Global Hawks do not have offensive capabilities.
Its mission is to provide near real-time aerial imagery reconnaissance support to U. S. and partner nations, according to the base’s website. Four more Global Hawks are slated to be deployed to the base, and a total of 110 staff members, including mechanics, are set to be stationed there in a related move.
According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, the drone is capable of capturing aerial images and electronic data from an altitude of around 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) or more, higher than the altitude at which commercial aircraft typically fly. The drone will be controlled by remote from Yokota during takeoff and landing, and then from the U. S. mainland once it reaches a sufficient altitude.
In the past, Global Hawks have been deployed at the US Misawa Air Base in the northern prefecture of Aomori. But work to revamp the runway at Misawa led to the switch to Yokota, where the Command of US Forces in Japan is located. To boost its own defense capabilities, Japan’s Defense Ministry decided to introduce three of them for the Self-Defense Forces, and will start deploying one at Misawa at the end of fiscal 2019.
