An RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft landed in Japan for the first time, touching down at Misawa Air Base last week for a six-month Pacific rotation. “Our relationship with Japan is very important, so being here reinforces the strong partnership our country has with the Japanese government,” Maj. Sinclair Lagergren, 69th Reconnaissance Group Det. 1 operations director, said in a release. The Global Hawk and approximately 40 airmen redeployed from Andersen AFB, Guam, to dodge the island’s inclement rainy season, arriving in Japan on May 24. The Global Hawk Block 40 aircraft from Grand Forks AFB, N.D., are equipped with the advanced active electronically scanned array radar capable of tracking moving targets, including cruise missiles, according to Northrop Grumman. Global Hawks from Guam assisted damage assessment efforts after Japan’s tsunami in 2011 and “we’re confident these operations benefit both parties,” added Sinclair.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
