According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Navy is preparing to deploy MQ-4C “Triton” Surveillance Drones to Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa for the first time in nearly six months, amid rising tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa sits a little over 350 miles from Taiwan, and would likely act as a major staging ground for offensive and defensive operations in a conflict between the United States and its regional allies against China.