Aviation
Military /
China
Geopolitical tensions
US spy drones could be seen flying close to China
MQ-4C Triton
Alex Evers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Gabriela Ramos
5/20/2021
Military tensions between the United States and China have been growing and this could lead the United States to invest in spy drones, which can be seen in the skies near China, according to the South China Morning Post.
According to the United States Navy, two MQ-4C Triton spy drones were transferred from Guam to Northern Japan, at the base of Misawa. "Triton is an unmanned and unmanned aerial reconnaissance system that provides the Japan-US alliance with enhanced maritime surveillance capabilities," says the US Navy.
According to the newspaper, the drones are operating on surveillance missions throughout the Chinese territory, and one of the aircraft was sighted in the South China Sea accompanying two P-8A and three reconnaissance aircraft, two EP-3E and one RC-135W.
According to the US Navy, "these aircraft give the [US] Navy the opportunity to test capacity in rough waters and with different environmental factors".
These drones are capable of flying for up to 30 hours at up to 17,000 meters of altitude, enabling Japan to monitor large areas.
In addition, other US drones based in Japan are the Global Hawks, which since 2014 have been conducting espionage missions to North Korea and may also be gathering information beyond the North Korean border.
These acts indicate that the United States may be planning to invest in reconnaissance drones in order to increase its lurking over China.
Drones are an interesting alternative for this purpose, being able to replace reconnaissance aircraft, since they have lower operational costs and greater safety, in addition to being able to perform the same functions, according to military expert Song Zhongping.
Japan has also expressed concerns about China's military presence near the Senkaku Islands, in addition to Chinese patrol ships in Japanese waters. While China denies the sovereignty of the Japanese islands, the defense secretary of the United States, Lloyd Austin said that the American country is willing to defend the islands.
MQ-9 Reaper
Air National Guard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Hyperlinks:
...
...
...
Gabriela Ramos
Gabriela is the latest addition to the editorial team of our website, having provided us with her solid background in editing, publishing and photography, and her interest and training in aviation history and historiography. His good taste and common sense and great cleverness and sagacity in the selection of themes and materials greatly enriched our vocabulary and narrative style. Gabriela brought unusual predicates and came to stay, helping to point the way of success of our portal.
   
|