More US military Ospreys arrive at southern Japan amid protest

The US military on Monday resumed the delivery of controversial Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to its airbase in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, despite concerns among local residents over its safety, which was renewed by a recent crash involving American helicopter. The eight MV-22 Ospreys arrived at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa after making the two-hour flight from the Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan. They are part of the batch of 12 Ospreys that were unloaded at the Iwakuni air base in July, two of which already moved to Okinawa on August 3rd. The US Marine Corps said the last two Ospreys will be transferred to Futenma later in the day. This will raise the total number of Ospreys in Okinawa to 24, following the deployment of the first 12 since last year. The delivery comes only a week after the fatal crash of US Air Force HH-60 helicopter in the prefecture on August 5th that killed one of the four crew members. The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft that can take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane. The deployment of controversial aircraft at Ginowan City's Futenma base, which is surrounded by residential areas, has drawn strong local opposition amid concern over the plane's safety in the wake of crashes overseas involving Ospreys. The aircraft crashed during a military drills in Morocco and the US state of Florida last year. But the Japanese and US governments confirmed last September that the two accidents were caused by human factors and not by the aircrafts' systemic problems or by technical problems. The two governments have also agreed on measures to ensure the safety of the aircraft, including flying no lower than 150 meters above ground, and avoiding flights over nuclear facilities, historic sites and congested areas. But local authorities in Okinawa have said many Osprey flights violated safety rules as agreed by the two governments. "The deployment is extremely disappointing. We will continue to ask the central government to reconsider the deployment of the Ospreys," Okinawa Vice-Governor Kurayoshi Takara told reporters. The U.S. said last year it plan to deploy a total of 24 Ospreys at Futenma to replace aging CH-46 helicopters by 2014 despite concern over the safety of the aircraft. Despite strong sentiment toward the U.S. military presence on the island prefecture, about 75 percent of all U.S. military facilities in the country are located in Okinawa, some 1,500 kilometers south of Tokyo.