Osprey’s controversial arrival

要約

Twelve MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were unloaded from a transport ship at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on July 23 amid protest from Iwakuni’s conservative Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda and local residents. After confirming its safety, Tokyo and Washington plan to start deploying the Osprey in early October at the Marine Corps’ Air Station Futenma in Ginowan on Okinawa Island to replace aging CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.

Neither government should make light of people’s opposition to the Osprey’s deployment due to safety concerns. Further opposition will spread because of the U.S. military’s plan to carry out low-altitude training for the aircraft in various parts of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. The two governments say the Osprey will contribute to greater deterrence for the sake of Japan’s defense because it flies two times faster, carries three times more cargo and has a radius of operation four times longer than the CH-46 helicopter. By only stressing the Osprey’s operational performance, Tokyo and Washington will miss the bigger picture of the Osprey issue in Japan.

During the development stage from 1991 to 2000, the Osprey crashed four times, killing 30 people. In an Osprey accident in Morocco in April 2012, two marines died and two others were seriously injured. On June 13, a CV-22, the U.S. Air Force’s version of the Osprey, crashed in Florida, injuring five.

Unlike most helicopters, the Osprey reportedly lacks autorotation emergency landing capabilities where the rotor blades rotate freely after experiencing engine failure. Japan’s Civil Aeronautics Act bans such aircraft.

Even Democratic Party of Japan policy chief Seiji Maehara, a pro-U.S. politician, is calling for the postponement of the Osprey’s deployment. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda should not overlook the possibility that the people’s resentment over the deployment could heighten to such a level as to trigger wholesale anti-U.S. base movements, thus jeopardizing the U.S.-Japan relationship.

日本語の抄訳はウィークリ8月4日号のP18に掲載されています。