Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 13 - 19 [US FORCES]

Japan and US intend to bring Ospreys into Iwakuni base

The Japanese and U.S. governments are working to bring the vertical take-off and landing transport aircraft MV22 Ospreys to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture for testing before deploying them to the U.S. Futenma Base in Okinawa.

Facing Okinawans’ strong opposition to the deployment of the Ospreys, both governments changed their original plan to “temporarily” deploy the aircraft to a U.S. military port in Okinawa’s Naha City. They now seek to use the Iwakuni Base as a “transit point” before deploying them to Okinawa.

Defense Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Jinpu Hideo met with the Iwakuni City mayor on June 11. Jinpu requested the mayor to accept unloading the bodies of the Ospreys transported by ships and to allow the flight-testing of the aircraft at the Iwakuni Base.

According to an opinion poll, more than 90% Okinawans object to the deployment. Almost all political parties in Okinawa and the mayor of Naha City strongly opposed the governments’ previous plan to bring the Ospreys to the U.S. Naha Military Port.

The parliamentary secretary said the unloading and test flights of the aircraft are “temporary”. On the other hand, he said, “The Ospreys could use the Iwakuni Air Station even after being deployed to the Futenma Base.”