Coast Guard Begins Operating SeaGuardian Drones
Source: General Atomics
October 21 2022
The Japan Coast Guard has launched operations with new long-endurance uncrewed aerial vehicle, reports the manufacturer of the drone, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
On Wednesday, the service began operations with the MQ-9B SeaGuardian from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Air Station Hachinohe in the northern Aomori prefecture.
The air vehicle will be primarily used for maritime wide-area search missions over the Sea of Japan and Pacific Ocean.
Secondary missions will likely include search-and-rescue, disaster response and maritime law enforcement, said General Atomics.
The SeaGuardian is equipped with a multimode maritime surface search radar with an inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging mode; Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver; and high-definition full-motion video sensor equipped with optical and infrared cameras, the company said.