Japan secretly negotiating with U.S. over deployment of MV-22 Osprey aircraft in Okinawa
The MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (Photo taken from the United States Navy's official Web site)
Japan has apparently been secretly negotiating with the United States over the deployment of the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to an alternative facility for a key U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture, despite its earlier denial of the deployment plan, it has emerged.
With deployment of the MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft in mind, the Japanese government had considered reviewing the environmental impact assessment of the relocation site of the U.S. Marine Corps' Air Station Futenma -- planned to be off the coast of the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture -- and reached a conclusion that it would need around six months of additional research.
Until recently, the Japanese government continued to deny that a plan existed to deploy the Osprey, but it had actually been working on the base relocation issue while discussing the deployment plan behind the scenes.
The environmental impact assessment of the plan -- in which Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to use two runways in a V-shaped formation -- began in August 2007 under the Okinawa prefectural ordinance and is currently in its final phase, where an evaluation report will be compiled. For the assessment, the Japanese government had collected data by actually flying helicopters.
There is a possibility that local residents will be exposed to the louder noise of the Osprey than helicopters as the aircraft is expected to fly closer to land than previously assumed as it needs more space to hover. There have already been accusations from the Okinawan side that the assessment should be thoroughly reviewed.
However, under the prefectural ordinance and its enforcement regulations, there are two required conditions to review the assessment -- when the length of runways is increased by more than 20 percent and when the heliport area grows by more than 10 hectares.
The Japanese government has determined that neither of the cases will apply to its base relocation plan even if there are changes in flight paths and aircraft.
Okinawa Prefectural Government officials are showing their reluctance to accept the Osprey deployment. Discussions on the relocation issue are expected to become more tangled as the faction of Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine -- who is against of the base relocation -- won a majority in the Sept. 12 city assembly election.
Click here for the original Japanese story (Mainichi Japan) September 14, 2010
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