Guam RQ-4B Global Hawk permanently relocated to Yokota Air Force Base

Guam RQ-4B Global Hawk permanently relocated to Yokota Air Force Base

The RQ-4Bs, operated by the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron, were permanently relocated to Yokota Air Base and were already deployed there during the annual typhoon season.

The U.S. Air Force’s 374th Airlift Wing announced June 15, 2026, that it has permanently relocated the RQ-4B Global Hawk from Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam, to Yokota Air Force Base, Japan. The aircraft is operated by the 4th Reconnaissance Squadron (4RS), a geographically separate unit of the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319RW).

Images released on the DVIDS network show the aircraft traveled to Japan between May 25 and 27. The unit regularly moves to Yokota in the summer to seek more favorable weather during typhoon season, but this time it was decided to move permanently to provide ongoing in-battle intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support to U.S. and coalition forces in the region.

The 374AW is the host unit for Yokota AB, which operates the C-130J Super Hercules with the 36th Airlift Squadron and the C-12J Huron with the 419th Airlift Squadron. The agency already oversees unmanned aerial vehicles with the MQ-9 Reaper from the 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron based at Kadena AB.

As previously mentioned, the three RQ-4B Block 40 Global Hawks of the 4th RS are a well-known presence at Yokota AB due to their summer deployment. The 4th RS’s official page mentions that the unit is conducting Agile Combat Employment (ACE) deployments to various locations throughout Japan.

Recent media outlets have noted that the move was timed to allow for better weather in Japan’s Kanto region during typhoon season, which has a greater impact on Guam. Compared to Yokota, Andersen is located further east in the western Pacific.

“This ensures continued surveillance in a region where challenges to a free and open Indo-Pacific continue to grow,” the statement said, referring to the strategic confrontation with China. PLA Navy and PLA Air Force activities are primarily concentrated in the First Island Chain, just off the coasts of Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which have several conflicting maritime claims with China.

RQ-4B in the Pacific

The statement described Global Hawk’s mission to support a wide range of ISR collection missions for U.S., friendly and joint forces in “global peacetime, emergency and crisis operations.” 4th RS Lt. Col. Adam Otten praised Yokota’s deployment facility and all of its families.

“Yokota Air Base is the ideal location to support current and future RQ-4 operations in theater while maintaining the quality of life for our Airmen and their families,” Otten said. He also thanked Guam and the Andersen AFB community for hosting Global Hawk for the past 16 years. “I’m delighted to be here and I’m confident the team will prosper with Team Yokota,” Otten added.

The release described Global Hawk as a high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) class remotely piloted aerial reconnaissance system that provides “persistent, day and night, high-resolution, all-weather imagery over a large geographic area through an array of integrated sensors and cameras.”

USAF RQ4 Yokota 2USAF RQ4 Yokota 2
An RQ-4B Global Hawk takes off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Sept. 17, 2024. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Manasseh Demissie)

The aircraft can fly at an altitude of 60,000 feet for at least 24 hours and is equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) sensors that can be used as an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) platform. This is further enhanced by a satellite-assisted Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) control link.

The 4th RS’s RQ-4Bs are controlled by the 319th Operations Group, based at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota. The aircraft will be launched and recovered by personnel at the deployed location, followed by mission control from Grand Forks. The 319th OG described RQ-4B operations at Andersen AFB in a September 2024 release.

The service is not the only country operating drones in the region, as it announced on March 12, 2022 that the first RQ-4B, one of three RQ-4B Block 30s acquired by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), arrived at Misawa Air Base in Japan. The addition of this aircraft to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force inventory directly supports Japan’s defense and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.

INDOPACOM changed back to PACOM

Interestingly, this development comes as the War Department announced the restoration of the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) theater command’s original name, Pacific Command (PACOM). President Donald Trump’s first administration introduced the Indo-Pacific Region (INDOPACOM) designation in 2018 to capture India’s partnership in the overall confrontation with China and encompass the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Although the RQ-4B’s move to Yokota may have been coincidental, the conversion to its original designation is recognized as having been influenced by the conflict situation in West Asia. India’s calm but official protest over the deaths of three Indian merchant ships aboard the MV Settebello in a US strike marks a sudden strain in relations.

However, PACOM has mentioned India as one of the regions within its Area of ​​Responsibility (AoR). “USPACOM’s broad area of ​​responsibility, from the west coast of the United States to India’s western border, remains exactly the same. The command’s fundamental mission and unwavering commitment to maintaining a free and open theater with regional allies and partners remain unchanged,” the command said.

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