EXCLUSIVE: GSDF Osprey to Use U.S. Base in Okinawa for 1st Time

Tokyo, May 21 (Jiji Press)–An Osprey transport aircraft of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force is expected to use a U.S. military base in the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa for the first time in an upcoming exercise with the U.S. side, Jiji Press learned Thursday. As part of the Resolute Dragon exercise between the GSDF and the U.S. Marine Corps on June 20-30, the two sides are considering a plan for a GSDF V-22 Osprey to airlift a mock patient from Miyako Island in Okinawa to the Futenma air station in the city of Ginowan in the main island of the prefecture, informed sources said. It will also be the first time for a GSDF Osprey to land on Miyako Island. The exercise, assuming the defense of remote islands, is slated to take place at Japanese Self-Defense Forces camps in Okinawa and the Kyushu southwestern Japan region as well as U.S. bases including the Futenma air station. On Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, a GSDF Osprey and U.S. military aircraft will conduct training on goods transportation. A GSDF Osprey was slated to fly to Okinawa during a joint exercise between Japan and the United States in February-March. But the plan was canceled as the Okinawa prefectural government in January asked the Japanese Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau to refrain from Osprey use in the drill after a GSDF V-22 Osprey lost balance and accidentally touched the ground when taking off from the GSDF camp on Okinawa’s Yonaguni Island during a Japan-U.S. joint exercise in October 2024. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]