Japan is set to deploy advanced drones to intercept unidentified aircraft and vessels in a move designed to reduce the burden on fighter pilots and modernise its military response protocols amid an increase in air and maritime incursions.
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Operational testing of the US-manufactured MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones for this purpose is expected to begin next year, according to a report by the Yomiuri newspaper, citing sources within the defence ministry.
Analysts say Japan’s military is playing catch-up. The country’s Self-Defence Forces have faced mounting pressure from frequent incursions into national airspace and territorial waters, primarily by Chinese units in the south and Russian aircraft and ships to the north.
In adopting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to address these issues, Japan “is behind the curve”, according to military specialist Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University.
“Japan’s responses are just unsustainable,” Mulloy told This Week in Asia. “China can continue to carry out mass incursions into Japan’s ADIZ [air defence identification zone] and EEZ [exclusive economic zone], with Japanese aircraft only typically scrambling upon intrusions closing in.”
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“For Japan, it is sensible to be able to carry out patrols further out, where drones can loiter for extended periods,” he added.
Specially configured variants of the SeaGuardian drone are capable of remaining airborne for up to 40 hours, operating in tandem with satellites to provide real-time surveillance of distant air and sea movements, according to the manufacturer, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.