Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 9 - 15 [OKINAWA]

US forces plan to deploy Osprey to central Okinawa

The U.S. military intends to deploy the vertical take-off and landing aircraft MV-22 Ospreys to a U.S. military facility in Naha City, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture with a population of 320,000, in July.

The deployment is to conduct test flights of the aircraft in preparation for the planned deployment to the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station at the end of September.

The facility is the Naha Military Port operated by the U.S. Army. The Japanese and U.S. governments in 1974 agreed on its return to Okinawa. However, the return has yet to be achieved because the construction of an alternative facility, a condition for the return, has not taken place.

Judging from the Osprey’s noise emission assessment that the Okinawa Defense Bureau released in its Environmental Impact Assessment for the planned relocation of the Futenma base, residents living in areas within one kilometer from the port will suffer from noise levels of more than 70 decibels. This 1-km radius from the port includes highly populated areas.

Ospreys will cross the path of commercial aircraft when departing from and approaching Naha Airport located near the U.S. military port. Naha Airport has between 30 and 40 takeoffs and landings per hour.