Japan’s Defence Ministry plans to acquire unmanned aircraft and robots in a bid to step up the Self- Defense Forces’ capabilities to cope with nuclear disasters.Unmanned aircraft and robots played a key role in responding to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, where high levels of radiation prevented access by people.
The ministry plans to request about 1.3 billion yen ($17M) in appropriations for the purchases under a third supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 that ends in March 2012.
The Ground SDF will test the new aircraft and robots to see if they can be used in times of security emergencies as well as nuclear disasters.
The ministry plans to purchase four unmanned aircraft, two each of the US-made Scan Eagle and the . Scan Eagle is currently used in Afghanistan and Iraq by the U.S. Marines for surveillance. A B-II owned by a private company was used to capture images of the Fukushima nuclear plant from the air.
The ministry plans to acquire two US-made PackBot remote- controlled robots. Tokyo Electric Power Co. used PackBots to gauge radiation levels and temperatures inside the Fukushima plant’s reactor.
Source: Military Aerospace