Asia-Pacific
Global Hawk offers images of quake's destruction
Stars and Stripes
March 18, 2011
An RQ-4 Global Hawk returns to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Friday after collecting images that will be used to help Japanese officials focus their search and recovery efforts following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. (Jeffrey Schultz/U.S. Air Force)
An RQ-4 Global Hawk returns to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Friday after collecting images that will be used to help Japanese officials focus their search and recovery efforts following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. (Jeffrey Schultz/U.S. Air Force)
An RQ-4 Global Hawk returns to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Friday after collecting images that will be used to help Japanese officials focus their search and recovery efforts following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
SEOUL — A U.S. aircraft based in Guam is flying missions over Japan to collect images of the destruction caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the 36th Wing public affairs office.
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.
“The Global Hawk offers tremendous capabilities in the aftermath of a natural disaster or other crisis,” he said. “In our mission over Japan, we are able to provide decision-makers with near real-time imagery showing the damage caused by the tragic earthquake and tsunami.”
The 36th Contingency Response Group has forward-deployed a team of power, communications and infrastructure specialists to help with the initial disaster response, according to the 36th Wing.