Andersen AFB Global Hawks Checking Japan Earthquake

Two of the Air Force’s new Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft are conducting imagery intelligence missions over Japan following the massive earthquake that struck off the island, March 11.The two UAVs are flying out of Andersen AFB in Guam and providing imagery along with U-2 aircraft out of Osan Air Base in South Korea

This marks Global Hawk’s fourth region of operations abroad, including the Pacific, Central Command (supporting Iraq and Afghanistan), European Command and Southern Command (over Mexico and South America).

The Global Hawks over Japan are the Block 30I configuration, carrying the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS) capable of collecting images of wide swaths of land. The imagery will be digitally relayed for processing.

Global Hawk’s EISS can provide infrared imagery of the plant, which is helping workers find the hottest areas of the nuclear reactors — some of which are thought to either be melting down or on the cusp of such a disaster.

The images provided by the RQ-4 Global Hawk will help Japanese authorities focus their search-and-recovery efforts, and aid in the long-term clean-up and reconstruction process, said Lt. Col. Brandon Baker, Global Hawk detachment commander at Andersen Air Force Base.

Conversation are on going to potentially fly new Block 30 Global Hawks from NAS Sigonella in Italy to monitor activities in Libya, Bahrain and other areas of unrest in Africa and the Middle East, according to program officials.

Source:  Aviation Week, Stars and Stripes, photo via Google Images

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