Okinawa’s Understanding as a Condition in Osprey Deployment

The government has moved forward in the deployment of the MV-22 Osprey vertical landing transport aircraft at the U.S. Futenma Airfield in Okinawa.

The Defense Ministry has informed and also asked for cooperation from the Yamaguchi prefectural governor and the Iwakuni city mayor concerning a 10-14 day test flight period before deployment in Okinawa that they are planning at the U.S. Iwakuni base in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. After a test run in July, they will be moved to Okinawa in August.

In April, the MV-22 Osprey was involved in a crash in Morocco, causing the death of two Navy soldiers and critically injuring two others. Okinawa is expressing great worry concerning their deployment at Futenma. It will not accept a deployment that is forced upon it. The government should receive the understanding of Okinawa before proceeding with its plan.

During its development, the Osprey was involved in four crashes, causing it to be viewed as a problem. Even after its official deployment, in April 2010, an Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed in Afghanistan.

Concerning the crash in Morocco, former Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka promised to release the cause of the crash before deployment. However, current Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto has alluded that the deployment could occur before the cause has been determined when he said that “the investigation report and the timing of the deployment are not connected and dependent upon each other.” This is a change of situation. This cannot be considered receiving Okinawa’s approval.

Last week, the Americans communicated to the Japanese government that the accident was not a problem with the fuselage, but that is still not an explanation as to the specific cause of the accident. They said that the details of the crash will not be available until the end of this year.

It is the position of both governments that the Osprey deployment is not contingent on prior agreement between the U.S. and Japan. However, isn’t it a different matter when the issue is safety? In August 2004, there was a crash involving a large transport helicopter from Futenma Airfield that went down in a blaze at Okinawa International University, located near the base. Safety became a major worry not only for residents near Futenma, but for people all over Okinawa who had a heightened sense of danger, and whose lives were negatively affected by things like noise, among others.

At first, in order to soften the opposition in Okinawa, they planned to temporarily store the Osprey at the Iwakuni Base. However, due to opposition in Yamaguchi, the plan was changed to take them directly to Naha’s military port, but was again changed back to the the Iwakuni Base after opposition from the Naha City Mayor and the City Council.

It might be that they think that by moving from Iwakuni Base to the Futenma Airfield by air, they can avoid troubles by those that oppose deployment. However, obtaining understanding concerning safety and avoiding trouble are different issues.

If the relationship with Okinawa becomes more complicated due to deployment in Futenma, it is inevitable that it will have influence on the biggest fears of the relocation of Futenma. Forcing the deployment can become a problem in the relocation of the airfield. Defense Minister Morimoto should be aware of this as he has said, “he will risk their jobs and push forward.”