The US is sending several long-range surveillance drones to Japan’s Okinawa prefecture near Taiwan for monitoring China's increasing drone activities in the region.
Japan’s defence minister Gen Nakatani said the US MQ-4C Triton drones will be sent for indefinite deployment to the US air base on Okinawa’s main island Kadena in the coming weeks.
The Trump administration is sending drones to Japan, one of the closest territories the US can work with in the event of a military invasion of Taiwan by China, to boost intelligence gathering, the Japanese defence minister said.
“This deployment is expected to enhance the Japan-US alliance’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and, by extension, the alliance’s deterrence and response capabilities,” Mr Nakatani said, addressing a press conference.
Officials at the Okinawa Defence Bureau said that the US military is seeking deployment of Triton drones to Kadena island to expand its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence activities near Japan.
According to the US Air Force, Kadena’s “strategic position makes it an invaluable location to stage Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations, enabling access to numerous potential flashpoints across the Indo-Pacific region”.
The Triton drones are likely to be utilised for short periods at US military bases in Yokota, western Tokyo, and Misawa, Aomori prefecture, the defence bureau officials said, reported Japanese daily The Asahi Shimbun.
The American high-altitude long endurance Triton drones, which has the same wingspan as a Boeing 737, can operate at altitude above 50,000ft for more than 24 hours with a range of 7,400 nautical miles (13,700km).
However, the latest round of US drone deployment has caused unease among the regional Japanese officials who have sought lesser presence of the American military.
Denny Tamaki, Okinawa’s governor, said the move will go against his regional government’s desire to reduce the burden of US military bases concentrated in Okinawa.
Diplomatic and territorial tensions have ramped up dramatically between China and Taiwan, and the US by extension, since last week after Beijing staged military drills off Taiwan's north, south and east coasts.
China said the drills were a "stern warning" against separatism and called Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te a "parasite" as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China's Navy approaching its shores.
China views the self-governed democratic island as its own territory and has not ruled out capturing it by military force.
However, the latest round of long-range drones deployment would provide a boost in the wake of increasing Chinese military activity near the southwestern islands, the Japanese defence minister said, adding that the “security environment surrounding our country is becoming increasingly severe”.
China is ramping up pressure on the region by sending drones near Japan’s islands and carrying out daily military drills around Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Just last year, China sent at least 30 drones in total around Japan, marking a more than seven times rise since 2021 when it had sent just four drones in the area.
