Three of the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, which look like small, blind Boeing 747 passenger planes, will be based at Anderson, with three more coming later. The Global Hawk, packed with radar, optical and infrared sensors, flies at 20,000m and can cover 64,000km2 in 24 hours and relay its findings quickly to operational commanders.
Beyond acquiring intelligence on troop and weapon movements, Hester said, Global Hawks will be able to track terrorists such as those infiltrating Indonesia and Malaysia through island chains after being trained in the southern Philippines.
Further, the reconnaissance aircraft could track ships in a maritime security regime, a US effort to encourage Asian nations to account for merchant ships the way they track nearly every airplane. The objective is to detect illicit drug smugglers, dealers in human trafficking, pirates and terrorists.
"We must have the ability," Hester said of the ships, "to know who you are, where you are going and what cargo you're carrying."
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