By Kenta Kamimura / The Japan News
TOKYO — Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey transport aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force arrived at Yokota Air Base on Thursday, with an eye to increasing the deterrent power of the Japan-U.S. alliance against North Korea.
The aircraft will soon begin training at the base on the outskirts of Tokyo. They will officially become operational this summer, and are expected to be used for special operations. This will be the first deployment of Ospreys at a U.S. base in Japan outside of Okinawa Prefecture.
Some believe the arrival of Ospreys at the Yokota base is intended to increase pressure on North Korea ahead of the U.S.-North Korea summit meeting, which is expected to be held by the end of May.
In light of a series of accidents involving the aircraft in Japan and abroad, however, local residents have voiced concern over the aircraft’s deployment.
At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, five gray CV-22 Opsreys flew in formation over the Yokota base, which lies amid residential areas and farmland in Tokyo’s Tama area. The aircraft, which had flown over from the U.S. military’s Yokohama North Dock facility in Yokohama, slowly landed in succession on the runway in helicopter mode, with their propellers facing up.
As they landed, a civil group opposed to the deployment protested with loudspeakers in front of the base’s gate.
The five Osprey aircraft had flown to the base to join drills conducted around Japan, and are believed to be participating in a U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise that began Sunday. After they officially begin operations this summer, a total of 10 CV-22s are scheduled to be deployed to the Yokota base in stages over several years.
“They will increase the deterrent power and emergency management ability of the Japan-U.S. alliance and contribute to Japan’s defense and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday, welcoming the deployment. However, he also stressed, “The safety of their flights must be ensured.”
The dispatch of Ospreys to the Yokota base marks their second deployment in Japan following the deployment to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture. During the planning phase, the Ospreys were originally to go to the U.S. forces’ Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. However, their deployment to the Yokota base was decided in 2015 with the aim of using them for disaster management in the Tokyo metropolitan area and to ease Okinawa Prefecture’s burden in hosting the U.S. military, among other considerations.
The U.S. government initially planned to deploy the aircraft from October 2019 to September 2020. However, it announced Tuesday that the original schedule would be moved forward. A U.S. military official stationed in Japan said the move corresponded with the National Defense Strategy announced in January, which called for strengthening alliances with countries in the Indo-Pacific region among other policies. The Ospreys could also be deployed in the future to the U.S. military’s Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
The Ospreys currently deployed at the Futenma base are the MV-22 type designed for Marines, and are mainly tasked with transport. They can fly at a maximum speed of about about 323 mph with a flight range of about 2,400 miles.
The CV-22, the U.S. Air Force version of the tilt-rotor aircraft, has almost the same maximum speed and flight range as the MV-22. However, it also possesses enhanced abilities to fly at night or at low altitudes. They are expected to be used for special operations, such as penetrating enemy territory to target a specific person in a sudden assault.
A U.S. military official stationed in Japan stressed the significance of the CV-22s’ deployment to the Yokota base, saying they bring unrivaled special operational abilities to areas under the U.S. military’s coverage. The deployment is also thought to be aimed at deterring North Korea, which has conducted nuclear and missile development, and China, which has aggressively pursued maritime expansion.
Toshimichi Nagaiwa, a former lieutenant general in the Air Self-Defense Force, said the CV-22s could be used for a “decapitation operation” by the U.S. military targeting North Korea’s leadership should an emergency arise on the Korean Peninsula. The ongoing exercises around Japan could be a “message from the United States that a military option is on the table depending on the outcome of negotiations (over North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs),” Nagaiwa said.
The Japanese government plans to introduce a total of 17 MV-22 Ospreys for use by the Ground Self-Defense Force, with an initial five aircraft to be deployed this autumn. They are seen as strengthening the defense of remote islands, and will be used for transport by the GSDF’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade. The unit, stationed at GSDF Camp Ainoura in Nagasaki Prefecture, specializes in amphibious operations. The government initially planned to deploy them to Kyushu-Saga International Airport in Saga Prefecture. But due to difficulty coordinating with local governments, they will be temporarily deployed to the GSDF Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture.
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