Agreement will allow U.S. to fly long-range surveillance drones from base in Japan
The U.S. military
will deploy long-range Global Hawk surveillance drones from Japan next year,
U.S. and Japanese officials announced Thursday, marking the first time the Pentagon
has been able to secure basing rights for the advanced unmanned aircraft in
that region. The U.S. Air Force will begin flying “two or three” Global Hawks
from an undetermined base in Japan next spring. The primary mission for the
Global Hawks will be to fly near North Korea, where U.S. officials hope they will
greatly enhance the current spying capabilities. The Air Force already has
Global Hawks stationed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the U.S. territory
in the Pacific, but North Korea is at the edge of their range and their flights
often are curtailed because of bad weather. The Air Force also has Global Hawks
stationed in the Persian Gulf.
The presence of
Global Hawks in East Asia is sure to irritate China, which has become increasingly vocal in pushing back against
the U.S. military presence in the region. China
is also engaged in a bitter territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands, Japan-China relations plummeted after
that decision, and tense confrontations resulted between the two nation’s ships
deployed in the area. Next year will mark the first time that the Pentagon will
base unmanned aircraft in Japan. In addition to the Global Hawks, U.S. and
Japanese officials announced that the Pentagon would deploy new U.S. Navy P-8
maritime surveillance patrol aircraft to Japan, starting in December. It would
be the first time that the P-8s will be stationed outside the United States.
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