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U.S. Ospreys Deployed to Futenma Base in Okinawa

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U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft were deployed on Monday to the U.S. Futenma airbase in southern Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture despite strong public opposition, the Kyodo news agency reported.

U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft were deployed on Monday to the U.S. Futenma airbase in southern Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture despite strong public opposition, the Kyodo news agency reported.

The first tiltrotor transport aircraft arrived at the Marine Corps' Futenma base from a base in southwestern Japan.

Six Ospreys departed from the Marines' Iwakuni air base in Yamaguchi Prefecture in the morning, a day after Japanese police cleared cars left by protesters to block the roads to Futenma on Sunday, in protest against the basing of 12 Bell-Boeing MV-22 tiltrotor aircraft there on Monday, according to Kyodo.

In September, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed to a plan for the basing of the tiltrotors in Japan, after a study by the Japanese concluded the aircraft did not pose special risks to local people. MV-22 flights will be limited to a minimum ceiling of 500 feet (150 meters) and they will not be allowed over populated areas.

Up to 24 MV-22s will be based at Futenma by 2014.

The V-22 Osprey family has had a troubled history, with several fatal crashes during its development. An MV-22 crashed during the African Lion military exercise in Morocco in April this year, prompting the Japanese to ask the United States for guarantees about the safety of the deployment in Okinawa.

 

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