Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force selects General Atomics MQ-9B SeaGuardians

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has chosen General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA-ASI) SeaGuardian aircraft system as part of its long-endurance uncrewed aerial vehicle programme.

The SeaGuardian system has already been used by the JMSDF since General Atomics was selected in 2023 as part of its Medium-Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS project. It has also been deployed by the JMSDF for evaluation which include tests to see if uncrewed aircraft can replace some missions currently carried out crewed aircraft.

As noted by GA-ASI, MALE UAS can fly for 24h or more, depending on configuration.

According to the Naval News, a source from the JMSDF confirmed that 23 SeaGuardian systems will be acquired by 2032. The first SeaGuardian is apparently scheduled for 2028, although no deployment site has been chosen.

Based on a comparative maritime programme, Shephard estimates the procurement could cost US$1.2 billion.

GA-ASI has already strengthened its Maritime Wide Area Surveillance system for Japan with Optix+, a software suite which gathers information using SeaGuardian sensors and correlates and exploits collected data.

According to GA-ASI, the SeaGuardian features two multi-mode maritime surface search radars with an Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging mode, an Automatic Identification System receiver and a High-Definition – Full-Motion Video sensor. The latter sensor is equipped with optical and infrared cameras as well as electronic intelligence receivers.

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

MQ-9B SkyGuardian / SeaGuardian