2 Japan GSDF Choppers Targeted with Lasers

Tokyo, Dec. 18 (Jiji Press)–Two helicopters of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force were hit by laser beams over Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the GSDF has said. There was no damage to the helicopters or injuries to crew members on board, according to the GSDF. The sites from where the lasers were directed are close to each other. A CH-47JA large transport helicopter belonging to the GSDF’s 1st Helicopter Brigade, based in the city of Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, was intermittently targeted with a green laser emitted from a site on the ground in the Shizuoka city of Mishima over a duration of about 10 minutes around 8 p.m. Tuesday while the aircraft was conducting a drill over the neighboring Shizuoka city of Susono, the GSDF said. Around 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, a UH-1J utility helicopter deployed at the GSDF’s Eastern Army Aviation Group in Tachikawa, Tokyo, was illuminated with a laser also on and off, for about one minute, from a location near the site of Tuesday incident while it was flying over Mishima. The GSDF reported the cases to the Shizuoka prefectural police department, an official said while noting, “We cannot determine whether the two incidents were related, including whether the laser beams were shone from the same device.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]