[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] The MQ-9 Deployed to Japan Self-Defense Forces Is

China's Caihong Drone CH-4, Visually Similar to the U.S. MQ-9 Reaper Drone

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The United States has decided to temporarily deploy the unmanned attack drone MQ-9 to Japan. This is the first time that a U.S. military unmanned attack drone has been stationed at a Japan Self-Defense Forces base.

According to foreign media on the 26th, the U.S. and Japanese governments plan to deploy 7 to 8 MQ-9 attack drones at the U.S. Navy base in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture. This decision follows an agreement reached on the 7th to expand joint use of facilities between the two countries for reconnaissance activities against China’s increasing maritime advances and North Korea’s ballistic missile development efforts.

If unmanned attack drones are deployed at Kanoya Air Base, it is expected to enhance surveillance and alert posture over the Nansei Islands and other areas. The Nansei Islands stretch across the East China Sea from the southern tip of Japan’s Kyushu region, including Kagoshima, to the northeastern tip of Taiwan. This deployment is aimed at countering China.

The MQ-9 Reaper is known as the “Sky Assassin” or “Hunter-killer.” The U.S. demonstrated its operational capability by deploying the MQ-9 in 2020 to eliminate Qasem Soleimani, a key figure in the Iranian military and commander of the Quds Force (an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps).

About 90 MQ-9 Reapers were deployed in the operation to eliminate Soleimani. The drone can carry 14 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or 4 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and 2 GBU-12 laser-guided bombs. It also operates AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles. Fully armed, it can stay airborne for 14 hours. Its armament capacity and maximum range are both twice that of the MQ-1 Predator. The MQ-9 Reaper is a drone that replaces the retiring MQ-1. It measures 11 meters in length, has a wingspan of 20 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 4,760 kg, a top speed of 482 km/h, and a range of up to 5,926 km. It was first deployed in Afghanistan in 2007.

Taiwan has deployed the MQ-9B SeaGuardian. The MQ-9B is the maritime version of the “SkyGuardian” unmanned aerial vehicle, equipped with the SeaVue maritime search radar. It is also equipped with the Lynx Ku-band synthetic aperture radar, multi-spectral target acquisition system, acoustic buoy receiver, and acoustic buoy processing system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.