'Not a good sign': drone footage of Japan warship on Chinese social media sparks concern in Tokyo

Drone footage that circulated on Chinese social media showing a Japanese warship docked at a military base has revealed worrying gaps in Japan's defences, analysts say - though combating the threat may not be easy.

"It's not a good sign if a drone can so easily get inside a base because these devices could be used to gather intelligence or signals intelligence," said Garren Mulloy, an international-relations professor at Daito Bunka University who specialises in security and military issues.

The 20-second video, which was posted to Chinese video-sharing website Bilibili on March 26, shows the helicopter destroyer Izumo of Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force moored at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa prefecture.

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More than six weeks after it appeared online, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara finally confirmed that the footage was real, dismissing earlier theories that it had been faked using artificial intelligence.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Friday, Kihara said the intrusion posed a serious security threat.

"We are taking the findings extremely seriously," he said. "If drones harm defence facilities, it could cause serious disruptions to the defence of our country."

The minister refused to comment on how the drone had managed to penetrate the airspace around the base, which serves as the headquarters of Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force and is also a key base for the United States' Seventh Fleet. Yokosuka is the base for a dozen forward-deployed US Navy vessels, most notably the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.

Kihara said it was critical that new defences be developed and deployed to deal with the threat posed by drones, adding that measures would be implemented to step up defences around military facilities.

It is hardly a unique problem, however, with military installations in the US, Britain, Germany and Australia all previously reporting incidents involving drones or model aircraft entering their airspace.

"It appears that, at the moment, there is no steady mechanism, either technological or physical, to prevent drones from flying over the Yokosuka base," security specialist Mulloy said.

He said Japan would have been "embarrassed" by the incident and the US military would undoubtedly inquire about the measures being taken to prevent a recurrence - although it is understood that halting all such airborne intrusions is currently almost impossible.

Though most aerial intrusions are caused by amateur aviation enthusiasts, Mulloy said the security breach at Yokosuka indicated what might happen if such a drone was being used for nefarious purposes by an enemy.

"There is also a safety issue if a helicopter was operating in the area and while the operator this time did not do anything particularly dangerous, an enemy could use ordinance to damage the ship."

Stopping drones from accessing military bases is a challenge, according to Malloy. Signal jamming can be used against them, but this has the unwanted side effect of interfering with legitimate communications. Physical barriers, such as netting, are not always effective and can be cumbersome.

Ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Japanese police deployed signal jammers and guns that fired nets designed to bring down drones, although they were reportedly not needed. There are also defences in place close to the prime minister's official residence after a drone flown by an anti-nuclear campaigner deposited a container with a small amount of a radioactive substance on the flat roof of the building in central Tokyo in 2015.

There have also been incidents involving unauthorised drones at Haneda and Narita airports, which serve Tokyo, while there are unconfirmed reports that Japan's nuclear power plants have defences against drone attacks.

Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo, said the problem with drones was that the technology was now widely accessible and anyone could pilot one.

"The government needs to be much clearer on the rules for operating drones and the physical parameters on where they can be flown need to be enlarged," he said. "It looks like this incident was not all that dangerous, but it might be the next time. There needs to be better surveillance and patrols, and more signs telling drone users what is permitted."

"But my concern is why it has taken the Japanese government so long to say anything about this," he told This Week in Asia. "This happened more than a month ago, so what have they been doing since? There needs to be a response to make sure this does not happen again."

Japan's Kyodo News was able to trace the person who operated the drone and put the footage on Chinese social media. In an email exchange, the man, who was not identified by name and is presently in China, said he was aware that his actions had been illegal and promised not to do the same again.

"I do not intend to provoke an international conflict," he told the outlet. "I just did it for fun."

Mulloy argued that Chinese authorities might interpret the man's actions differently if he had attempted to breach the perimeter of a Chinese naval base and fly a drone along the length of an aircraft carrier.

"Something tells me that he would not even try to do that," he said.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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