By Zachary Keck
Japan will deploy the Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft starting in fiscal 2015, the local daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Friday, citing unnamed government sources.
According to the report, Japan’s Defense Ministry plans on including 200 million yen (US$ 2 million) in next year’s budget for the “research and study expenses” involved in introducing the Global Hawk. The budget will also contain a provision mandating that the drone be deployed by 2015.
Yomiuri Shimbun said the government was in the process of selecting a base for the reconnaissance aircraft. According to the newspaper’s sources, the lead contender so far is the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture way up in the northern part of Japan.
This would place it far away from the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, although this wouldn’t be a huge obstacle to overcome as the Global Hawk can fly at an altitude of 18 km for more than 30 uninterrupted hours by some estimates. Others claim that the Global Hawk is “basically an unmanned U-2” that operates at between 15 km and 19 km and boasts “loiter time on station of 24+ hours.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat