The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) has signed a contract for the purchase of two SeaGuardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI).
As informed, the contract follows JCG’s ongoing agreement with GA-ASI for operating SeaGuardian, which began in April 2022.
SeaGuardian is a medium-altitude, long-endurance RPA system that can fly for 24 hours or more, depending on the configuration.
GA-ASI has strengthened its maritime wide area surveillance (MWAS) for Japan with Optix+, which gathers information from the SeaGuardian sensors, as well as other data sources, displaying the full picture of surveillance information for its operator.
According to the company, this functionality makes it easy to task and direct its Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information in real time.
GA-ASI’s Optix+ software suite rapidly correlates and exploits collected data into an easily shared common operational picture. Having multi-source correlated data enables automatic detection of anomalous behaviors over waters, the firm noted.
“Since JCG started operating SeaGuardians, they have been used for various JCG missions, including supporting search and rescue and disaster response, specifically during the 7.6 magnitude earthquake early this year near the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture and maritime surveillance during the 2023 G-7 Summit in Hiroshima, and the system has performed efficiently and effectively,” said GA-ASI CEO Linden Blue .
The two SeaGuardians are scheduled for delivery in 2025.
GA-ASI recently decided to collaborate with Lockheed Martin on the MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aircraft system.