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2nd U.S. Global Hawk drone deployed to Misawa base

9 Comments

A second U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone arrived Wednesday at the U.S. Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture from Guam. The first drone was deployed to Misawa last Saturday.

The drones are the first deployment of the spy aircraft in the country, the U.S. Air Force said.

The Global Hawks are in Japan "to support U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and contingency operations throughout the Pacific theater," the U.S. Air Force said on its website.

The high-altitude reconnaissance plane is scheduled to operate until October. The drones are likely to be used to monitor North Korea and China.

Equipped with sophisticated communications capabilities, the Global Hawk can fly at an altitude of 18,000 meters -- about twice as high as commercial passenger planes -- for some 30 hours on autopilot.

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9 Comments
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The previous article said that these drones would be used for early warning weather predictions and monitoring NK and China, now there is no mention of monitoring weather. They said the same thing in America, drones were sold as a way to provide the public with safety information and deliver medicines to remote locations. Then we started using them to assassinate human beings, in countries we are not at war with.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

The global hawk is a reconnaissance drone only. At 18,000 meters flying height it is not a hunter killer drone as is the predator. Check your facts Stuart.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

More Ospreys! Show the military intelligence, so to speak. It is about time.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Mike Will: Nice deflection! Maybe it is you who needs to check out the facts and read my comment more carefully. I NEVER mentioned the Global Hawk. I only implied that is will be used as a gateway for public exceptance, this is how it was done in the US. Now it is a FACT that America assassinates human being's, in countries that we are not at war with. Being that Abe wants to rewrite the constitution or Article 9, It' is my opinion, that it's just a matter of time, before lethal drones will make their way into the Japanese military.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

and i thought japan was a country free of any or every foriegn influence....but accepting those drones have proven to me one thing....nope they are not like we are not

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The reality and fact is that the drones are here in Japan for what ever reason and use.

It is something that needs close monitoring and regulation on the part of both the USA and Japanese governments as they definitely affect the safety and security of the skies for military as well as civilian aircraft. Japan definitely has one of the most crowded skies. We should be asking for what steps are being taken by both to assure the safety and security in the skies.

If anything, this article could have initiated discussions to address such concerns and not so much as to their presence or their intended use or their capability. Both are already quite obvious given the current environment in Asia.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

there were two report. One was Weather monitoring Satellite. Another one was drone to check N Korea nad China military. So, this is drone info. Not Satellite info.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The previous article said that these drones would be used for early warning weather predictions and monitoring NK and China, now there is no mention of monitoring weather. They said the same thing in America, drones were sold as a way to provide the public with safety information and deliver medicines to remote locations. Then we started using them to assassinate human beings, in countries we are not at war with.

That's an impressive bit of disinformation. You seem to have gotten your chronological order reversed. Drones went mainstream first as tools for military reconnaissance, then as inexpensive bombers. It was only after this that they started being proposed for some of the civilian purposes you listed. Which is typical for quite a number of technologies which have transitioned from a military origin to a more generalized utility.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

lllyas: You make a valid point, about the order of drone use. The military used them in secret for years before the public knew anything about them. They used them for reconnaissance and assassinations AND extreme weather events. After the public realized that it is internationally illegal to assassinate human beings, (in countries that we are NOT at war with) lethal drones started to get bad publicity. The industry wanted not be limited to military use only, so they came up with a friendlier face for their use and at the same time, gain more main stream exceptance. I can promises you that the Global Hawk will act as a gateway to the use and exceptance of lethal drone use in Japan. Just curious, do you feel it's morally ok to assassinate human beings in countries we are not at war with? Do you think each each country that uses them for spying or killing, would approve of other countries doing the same thing to them?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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