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Julian Ryall

Japan’s planned deployment of long-range surveillance drones on remote Pacific islands would mark a significant expansion of its ability to monitor Chinese naval activity, as Beijing’s warships operate more frequently beyond the first island chain.
The drones are to be stationed on Iwo Jima and Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara chain south of Tokyo, according to a report by the Yomiuri newspaper published on Monday. The airfield on Minamitorishima, about 1,950km (1,211 miles) southeast of Tokyo and Japan’s easternmost point, will also be used to complement the drones’ deployment.
The aim will be to provide real-time intelligence in an area that is currently a surveillance “blind spot”, government sources told the Yomiuri.
Such a view has taken on greater importance as Chinese naval activity expands into waters east of Okinawa and deeper into the western Pacific, according to Japanese defence assessments and regional security analysts.
The first island chain refers to a key US security doctrine spanning a vast area from the Kamchatka peninsula in the northeast to the Malay peninsula in the southwest, including Japanese territory.
“This decision is in line with Tokyo’s sharpening threat assessments, especially with regard to the increased pressure caused by Chinese maritime activity” beyond the first island chain, said William Yang, a Taiwan-based analyst for the International Crisis Group.

“Japan’s annual defence assessment has alluded to that trend over the last year, pointing to the first simultaneous deployment of Chinese aircraft carriers into the western Pacific,” he added.
The two carrier groups sailed into waters south of Tokyo in June last year, with one group comprising two guided missile destroyers and a supply vessel conducting drills 300km from Minamitorishima.
In December, Japan delivered an official protest after Chinese fighters from the aircraft carrier Liaoning locked their radar onto Japanese jets off Okinawa. A week later, two Chinese and two Russian bombers carried out a joint exercise, during which they flew between the islands of Okinawa prefecture and into airspace over the Pacific.
Enhancing surveillance of areas around Japan is expected to be a key goal of revised national security documents, which are expected to be completed before the end of this year.
Japan has been testing US-built unmanned aerial vehicles since 2021, with its coastguard testing the ability of MQ-9 Reaper drones to identify and track ships across vast areas in the Pacific. In early 2022, it deployed drone units to the airbase at Kanoya in Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan.

Japan is set to obtain MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones in the 2027 financial year, and these are to be stationed on Chichijima and Iwo Jima, according to the Yomiuri.
Built by San Diego-based General Atomics, the drones can remain airborne for more than 30 hours and be guided by satellite. They can be fitted with an automatic identification system and an anti-submarine warfare kit.
To support the drones’ early-warning capability, the Japanese military intends to deploy mobile radar systems on Iwo Jima and Chichijima.
“This is Japan responding to the threat assessment and beginning by strengthening its surveillance,” said Yang. “China has stepped up its maritime activities in the region, and I only see that continuing in the future.”
Nevertheless, Tokyo has been “slow and gradual” in upgrading its defensive posture to avoid antagonising Beijing and giving the impression that it is dramatically militarising its islands, according to Yang.
“Given the current level of tension, I think Japan is being very careful in determining the types of capabilities it is putting on these islands. But given Japan’s defence recalibration since 2022, the logical next step will be stationing some level of strike capability on these islands,” Yang said.

On Monday, Japanese media reported that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party was so impressed by the battlefield performance of drones in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine that it wanted the country’s military to develop and deploy interceptor drones.
In another indication of where Tokyo believes is one of the greatest national security threats, the Ground Self-Defence Forces began exercises on Sunday on the Sakishima Islands, at the far southern tip of Okinawa prefecture. The manoeuvres include deploying launchers for Type 88 anti-shipping missiles and drones to carry out reconnaissance.
“This all aligns with measures that Japan has already taken since last year, of pouring resources into the islands that face [mainland] China and preparing for a possible contingency over Taiwan or the first island chain,” Yang said.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US and many of its allies, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
“These steps show that Japan is taking its own defensive responsibilities much more seriously as there are uncertainties over the commitment and capabilities of this US administration in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
“Japan recognises that it needs to play a bigger role in upholding the deterrence of China.”


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Tokyo hopes deploying US-built SeaGuardians on Iwo Jima and Chichijima will eliminate a Pacific surveillance ‘blind spot’


Tokyo hopes deploying US-built SeaGuardians on Iwo Jima and Chichijima will eliminate a Pacific surveillance ‘blind spot’.


Japan plans island drone deployment to monitor Chinese naval activity

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tokyo hopes deploying US-built SeaGuardians on Iwo Jima and Chichijima will eliminate a Pacific surveillance ‘blind spot’

Tokyo hopes deploying US-built SeaGuardians on Iwo Jima and Chichijima will eliminate a Pacific surveillance ‘blind spot’