Giant robot invades Japan!

Now that I have your attention, seriously though, a large robotic jet (RQ-4 Global Hawk) has made its first visit to a Japanese airbase (Misawa Air Base, Japan).

On May 4, the first U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted system arrived at Misawa Air Base, Japan, where it is scheduled to operate from May to October 2014.

The huge Northrop Grumman UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) was deployed to Japan to support ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) missions in the Pacific theater, carried out by a team of a team of 40 personnel belonging to the 69th Reconnaissance Group, Detachment 1.

Aviationist

Misawa Air Base was selected as an alternate base weighing a wide variety of factors, including seasonal weather patterns, facilities locally available, costs.

I'm sure those aren't the only reasons the Global Hawk is now in Japan though.

The linked video also gives a great perspective on the size of the RQ-4 and the landing and taxi procedures for the UAS.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Quite big and scary looking-Looks very Locust like to me with those side panels/vents near the nose,and the large angled tail pieces.

There again,didn't boeing have a radio controlled jumbo jet back in the 90's?
That is big...

a reply to: Sammamishman

As awesome as this is.... I had my heart set on Mecha Godzilla... I'm a little disapointed...

originally posted by: sulaw
a reply to: Sammamishman

As awesome as this is.... I had my heart set on Mecha Godzilla... I'm a little disapointed...

You are not alone!

Looks quite similar to a cruise missile...

Could probably be used as one too.

a reply to: sulaw

I know, right. When is the Air Force gonna name a jet "Ghidorah"?

I thought you meant this.
Not sure I'd call a drone a robot in the classic sense.

originally posted by: gspat
Looks quite similar to a cruise missile...

Could probably be used as one too.

Only if it was totally refitted,and it would be silly to do so,as a missile is far faster and cheaper even.
This is a high altitude recon platform,with high specifications.This is what wikipedia says,but I think they don't know everything:

The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveillance aircraft.
It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. In role and operational design, the Global Hawk is similar to the Lockheed U-2.
The RQ-4 provides a broad overview and systematic surveillance using high resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors with long loiter times over target areas. It can survey as much as 40,000 square miles (100,000 km2) of terrain a day.

en.wikipedia.org...

Imagine what a fleet of these could do over an enemy country-they could scoop every signal,record all movement in real time in all light and radio spectrums.

Bad.
Ass.
Tech.

Man... i was waiting for one of those to transform into a robot when landing.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

The only thing it lacks is survivability in contested airspace. That is where the RQ180's and the like come in....

a reply to: sulawwell; i think they are working on a giant robot that looks like Hatsune Miku. The Krypton Future Media CEO once tweeted a few times about it. not the human sized HPRC-4 in cosplay but a transformer sized one. we are all doomed!