Japan: Drones to Spy on China, N. Korea

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Tokyo wants to buy several Global Hawk drones to monitor the Chinese and North Korean military, Japanese media reports. The US is deploying two of these large military drones to its base in Japan, despite protests and an absence of local air regulations.

According to RT the US Air Force plans to deploy two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Misawa Air Base as early as late May, the Yomiuri Shimbun reports. According to the bilateral agreement officially acknowledged by the Japanese Defense Ministry, the drones are to stay there until October and may also be redeployed next year.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The base, located some 590 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, will host 40-meter-wide, 14.5-meter-long Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk drones, which the US has previously used in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The reported grounds for the relocation have been “more favorable weather conditions” in the area than Guam’s, where the drones are currently stationed. Global Hawk drones have an operational altitude of up to 18,000 meters and can fly for 30 hours.