US to deploy RQ-4 Global Hawk drones over Diaoyutais

The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone

A Japanese defense expert said this was an important step for the alliance’s cooperation and signaled to Beijing that the US stands firmly with Tokyo 

The US will use its most advanced unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to monitor Chinese activity in waters surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), the object of an acrimonious dispute between Beijing and Tokyo, Japanese media are reporting.

The decision was made during a meeting between Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the Pentagon on Sunday, NHK and the Yomiuri Shimbun said, adding that the drones would also conduct surveillance around Okinawa. 

At least three unarmed Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk drones have been deployed at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam since September 2010, bolstering the operational intelligence capabilities of US forces in the Asia-Pacific. 

My article, published today in the Taipei Times, continues here.