TOKYO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Air Self-Defense Force's (ASDF) Global Hawk unmanned aircraft that went missing on Tuesday afternoon over the Sea of Japan is presumed to have crashed, local media reported.
Kyodo News cited the ASDF as saying that photos of debris floating in the sea off the western prefecture of Tottori led it to conclude that the reconnaissance aircraft had crashed. No damage to ships in the area was reported.
The ASDF lost communication with the aircraft at around 1 p.m. local time while it was flying about 50 km off the coast of Tottori.
The aircraft was not on a training flight at the time, but the ASDF did not disclose the specific purpose of its mission.
The missing aircraft is one of the three Global Hawks owned and operated by the ASDF, all of which are deployed at Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan. This is the first such incident involving any of the ASDF's Global Hawks, the report said.
According to information disclosed by the ASDF, the Global Hawk has a wingspan of approximately 40 meters, a length of 14.5 meters, and a height of about 5 meters. It can fly continuously for about 36 hours. ■