Keith Breazeal Video Productions

VP-40's P-3C Orions sit on the "hot side" in Misawa, Japan. When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, North Korea was showing it's aggressive hand toward South Korea. President Reagan got tired of their antics and ordered our squadron to go two DEFCONs higher and load the P-3C's with Harpoons and torpedos. It was an incredible sight and meant to send a message. Fully armed P-3s flyng along North Korea's coast had a chilling effect, resulting in North Korea sending all their ships back to port and all their aircraft stayed parked on the ramp.

The Global Hawk is one heck of a big Remotely Piloted Vehicle. At 44 feet long, a wing span of 116 feet, and a gross take off weight of 25,600 pounds, this is like a small airliner. It can stay airbourne for 36 hours with a "published" maximum altitude of 65,000 feet. Sensors range from visual to infrared cameras, synthetic aperature radar with a .4 meter resolution, and a moving target indicator mode that sees anything moving above 4 kts. Search area is 40,000 sq. nautical miles and, at 65,000 feet, provides 20 meter spot accuracy for targets.