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| Global Hawk UAV (File Photo) |
By PAUL MCLEARY
WASHINGTON — During a diplomatic visit to Tokyo this week, US officials confirmed that the Japanese government has agreed to base “two to three” American-operated Global Hawk UAVs on Japanese soil beginning early next year.
The deployments of the unmanned aircraft “will not be year-round,” a senior administration official said. “It’ll be a seasonal deployment, but they'll be flying out of a US base in Japan for a period of the year.”
It will be the first time that US unmanned assets are based on Japanese soil, but the announcement was only one part of a sweeping defense cooperation effort between the two countries that will also include F-35 joint strike fighters, new ballistic missile radars, and increased bilateral cyber and ISR programs.
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