Japan Air Self-Defense Force Suspects Missing "Global Hawk" Drone Has Crashed

Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, September 15 (Reporter Chen Ze'an, Lan Jianzhong) According to a report from Kyodo News on the evening of the 15th, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force suspects that the "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft that went missing that afternoon has crashed.

At around 13:00 local time on the 15th (12:00 Beijing time), a "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force lost contact over the waters near Tottori Prefecture. The Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard subsequently launched a search operation. Kyodo News reported that during the search, floating debris suspected to be from the missing drone was found in the waters near Tottori Prefecture.

This drone is stationed at the Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. According to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the drone took off from Misawa Air Base at around 10:20 local time (9:20 Beijing time). Before the communication was lost, there were reports of poor communication connectivity. The drone was not on a training mission at the time, but the Air Self-Defense Force did not disclose its specific flight purpose.

Including the missing drone, the Air Self-Defense Force has a total of three "Global Hawk" unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, all deployed at Misawa Air Base.

The "Global Hawk" drone is a high-altitude, long-endurance large unmanned reconnaissance aircraft developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation in the United States, with an endurance of approximately 36 hours. Kyodo News reported that the unit procurement cost of this type of drone is about 17 billion yen (approximately 736 million yuan).