Asahi Shimbun has written a lengthy article on why Tokyo has decided to explore cooperating with Israel on unmanned aerial vehicle technology.
By SSGT REYNALDO RAMON, USAF [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
According to the Japanese report, Tokyo has found it difficult to operate the RQ-4 that it had ordered a few years ago due to restrictions placed by the Americans.
Japan wanted the high-flying drones to provide round-the-clock surveillance against neighboring North Korea and China. Now the Defense Ministry has discovered that the drone can only loiter for at most three times a week.
Washington is only willing to supply optical sensors for Japanese Global Hawks, AIS tracking of ships and electronic emissions gathering sensors will not be provided at the outset.
This and other restrictions mentioned in the article has prompted Tokyo to approach Tel Aviv to consider the IAI Heron to supplement the surveillance mission.