MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, Japan — The U.S. military sent the first batch of a sophisticated but accident-plagued new aircraft to an air base on Okinawa on Monday, going forward with its planned deployment despite unexpectedly fierce opposition by islanders and warnings that any crash could threaten the huge U.S. military presence on the island.
The first six of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft arrived from another base on mainland Japan where they had undergone test flights, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.
The United States is counting on the deployment to serve as part of the Obama administration’s plan to increase the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and offset the growing strength of China and a nuclear-armed North Korea.
On the surface, the outrage has been fueled by concerns about the safety of the aircraft, which had a troubled development and suffered two crashes this year.
“Who can say, ‘We understand’ about something like this that could fall on our heads? It’s extremely disappointing and regrettable,” Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima said.
The Osprey — whose tilting rotors allow it to take off like a helicopter but fly like a fixed-wing aircraft — flies four times as far as the Vietnam-era helicopters it is replacing.
“Anger has been building up like hot magma beneath the surface, and the Osprey could be what finally causes an eruption,” said Takeshi Onaga, the mayor of Naha, the Okinawan capital city, and a member of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party. “If they force the Osprey onto us, this could lead to a collapse of the U.S.-Japan alliance.”
