iwakuni

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

U.S. aircraft relocation strengthens Iwakuni Base function

At the March 7 House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi criticized the planned relocation of a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft unit to the U.S. Iwakuni base, revealing the dangers of the plan.

Combined with the 55 U.S. aircraft and some Self-Defense Forces' aircraft currently deployed in the Iwakuni Base, the relocation plan will increase the number to about 130 altogether. Ichida said that no other U.S. overseas air bases will accommodate such a large number of military aircraft as the Iwakuni base.

Ichida raised the issue of the noise pollution caused by U.S. aircraft that Iwakuni residents are concerned about. The government has stated that after the planned relocation, touch-and-go exercises by the U.S. carrier-borne aircraft unit will continue to take place on Iwojima Island, located 1,250km south of Tokyo. However, Ichida revealed that what the U.S. forces officially call a "touch-and-go exercise" is in fact a "skill test," conducted to check a pilot's capability of landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and that practices before the "skill test" are frequently held at the Atsugi base.

Ichida pointed out that in the period prior to the official touch-and-go exercises, residents around the Atsugi base suffer from noise louder than 100DB, the same level as under a railroad overpass, about 50 times a day.

Ichida also warned of the danger of accidents involving FA-18 attack fighters, the main carrier-based aircraft. According to the statistics available on a U.S. Navy website, in the last 5 years U.S. FA-18s were involved in cases of 49 "class A" accidents, the major accident resulting in loss of life or costing more than 1 million dollars of damage. The "class A" ranked accidents took place 13 times in 2003 and 14 times in 2004.

Ichida stressed that the on-going construction of an additional runway at the Iwakuni Base will strengthen base capability, and criticized the government for breaking its promise of not doing so.
- Akahata, March 8, 2006