July 25, 2015
Akahata reported on July 25 that the U.S. government has been calling for bids for the preparatory work to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft Ospreys to the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
The Yokota base stretches over six municipalities in western Tokyo. On May 11, Washington informed Tokyo that it will begin to deploy CV-22 Ospreys to Yokota in 2017. The U.S. plans to station a total of 10 CV-22s at the base by 2021.
According to the Akahata report, just one week after the U.S. administration communicated the deployment plan to its Japanese counterpart, Washington posted an advertisement for the work on a website of the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO).
The project includes heat-resistance work for aprons and emergency landing strips along with extension and reconstruction of hangars and other storage facilities. It is clear that these improvements are for the planned deployment of CV-22s which emit large amounts of high-temperature burned fuel.
Lawyer Morioka Terumichi, representing a local civic group seeking to shut down the Yokota base, said, “It is totally unacceptable to deploy such crash-prone aircraft in defiance of growing public concern and criticism. Like the Abe government-proposed war legislation, Washington and Tokyo are trying to enhance the base functions in order to fight wars abroad together.”
Past related article:
> US seeks to deploy Ospreys to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo [May 10, 2015]
The Yokota base stretches over six municipalities in western Tokyo. On May 11, Washington informed Tokyo that it will begin to deploy CV-22 Ospreys to Yokota in 2017. The U.S. plans to station a total of 10 CV-22s at the base by 2021.
According to the Akahata report, just one week after the U.S. administration communicated the deployment plan to its Japanese counterpart, Washington posted an advertisement for the work on a website of the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO).
The project includes heat-resistance work for aprons and emergency landing strips along with extension and reconstruction of hangars and other storage facilities. It is clear that these improvements are for the planned deployment of CV-22s which emit large amounts of high-temperature burned fuel.
Lawyer Morioka Terumichi, representing a local civic group seeking to shut down the Yokota base, said, “It is totally unacceptable to deploy such crash-prone aircraft in defiance of growing public concern and criticism. Like the Abe government-proposed war legislation, Washington and Tokyo are trying to enhance the base functions in order to fight wars abroad together.”
Past related article:
> US seeks to deploy Ospreys to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo [May 10, 2015]
