The JMSDF plans to acquire a total of 23 MQ-9B SeaGuardian surveillance drones by fiscal year 2032, a spokesperson at the service told Naval News on December 5.
The first MQ-9B SeaGuardian is scheduled to be introduced in fiscal year 2028, but the deployment site for the drones has not yet been decided, the spokesperson said, adding “We are reviewing all air bases and then will choose the locations for deployment among them.”
The plan came after the nation’s Defense Buildup Program, approved in December 2022, stated the JMSDF will introduce various unmanned assets, including two divisions of new unmanned vehicle units “to establish a multilayered surveillance posture, to secure underwater and maritime superiority, and to reduce loss of human resources” in ten years.
“The new unmanned vehicle units will be created to operate them and so the existing P-1 units will not operate them,” the JMSDF spokesperson said.
As for Manned Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) between the MQ-9B and the P-1, the spokesperson said, “That hasn’t been decided yet. I can’t answer that question at this stage,” meaning it is not yet known whether the drone can be controlled from the P-1.
However, the spokesperson said the drone is not planned to carry weapons or ammunition.
“The MQ-9B will not carry weapons such as the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) or torpedo. In addition, the JMSDF will not order sonobuoy kits for the MQ-9B at this point,” the spokesperson told Naval News.
The MQ-9B is intended to collect information on the movements of foreign military vessels on the sea and underwater. There have been many cases of Chinese vessels sailing around Okinawa in recent years, so there is a possibility that it will be deployed within the prefecture or used around Okinawa, the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan facing China. It is also expected to help address the SDF’s manpower shortage.
The JMSDF started the use of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) SeaGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems for its Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) program since May 2023, GA-ASI announced on December 3.
Since then, the UAV has been undergoing test operations in Hachinohe Air Base in the northern prefecture of Aomori and Kanoya Air Base in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima, and it has been confirmed to have sufficient performance for surveillance and monitoring at sea by the JMSDF.
Manufactured by the U.S. maker GA-ASI, the drone has a length of 11 meters, a wingspan of 24 meters, and a height of 4 meters, with a maximum flight altitude of about 12,000 meters. A SeaGuardian costs around 12 billion yen ($80 million), according to the JMSDF. The Japan Coast Guard is operating the SeaGuardian since 2022.
Check out Naval News’ recent coverage of the SeaGuardian at Euronaval 2024:
