South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness
On May 7, Japan's Ministry of Defense released a message saying, "in order to cope with the severe surrounding security environment and activities in neighboring countries", since mid to late May, two U.S. high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft RQ- 4 "Global Hawk" and MQ-4 "Mermaid Poseidon" will be directly deployed to Yokota and Misawa Air Force Bases in Japan for a period of five months.
The distribution map of US military bases in Japan
The US Air Force's RQ-4 "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft has been deployed directly to Japanese bases for a long time. Between 2014 and 2020, the RQ-4 was deployed at Yokota or Misawa Air Force Bases in Japan for 3-6 months almost every year.
The deployment of U.S. UAVs in Japan since 2014
And the U.S. Navy's MQ-4 "Mermaid Poseidon" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft is an upgraded version of the RQ-4. The can fly at an altitude of 18,000 meters for 24 hours. It can scout an area of nearly 7 million square kilometers (basically equivalent to the area of Australia), and it is a powerful weapon for the US military's battlefield construction. It is the first time that has been directly deployed in Japan.
U.S. Navy MQ-4C unmanned reconnaissance aircraft data map , closer to the East China Sea and the South China Sea. After being deployed to Japan, the two UAVs will be further improved in terms of mobility, airborne duration, and reconnaissance intensity.
About the "South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Program": In order to maintain and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the South China Sea, we launched the "South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Program" (SCSPI), dedicated to aggregating intellectual resources and open source information around the world, and continuously tracking key interests It provides professional data services and analysis reports on important actions and major policy trends of responsible parties in the South China Sea to help all parties manage differences, surpass competition and move towards cooperation.
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