Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 25 - May 8 [OKINAWA]

US plans to deploy MV-22 Osprey to Futenma in July

The U.S. government is planning to deploy military aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing capability, the MV-22 Osprey, to the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture as early as this July. This was made public by Japanese government officials on April 25.

The Okinawa Prefectural government and local municipalities are opposing the deployment because of its high risk of crashes and high level of noise.

Doubts concerning the safety of the aircraft has increased since a MV-22 Osprey crash killed two U.S. soldiers during its training exercise in Morocco, northern Africa, in the middle of this month.

However, the Japanese government claims that an investigation into the cause of the accident will not affect the schedule of the U.S. plan to deploy the aircraft to Japan.

“Nonsense. I have been opposing the deployment from the beginning,” Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu on April 25 commented at a press conference in Tokyo.

Sakima Atsushi, the mayor of Ginowan City where the Futenma Base is located, on the same day also expressed his opposition to the plan at the city hall.