The government may shift noisy night-flying drills by U.S. Navy warplanes to an uninhabited island in Hiroshima Prefecture and away from the Atsugi air base in Kanagawa Prefecture, defense sources said Thursday.
The Defense Facilities Administration Agency and local authorities plan to allow the exercises to be carried out from Okurokami Island, located in the Seto Inland Sea and under the jurisdiction of the town of Okimi, Hiroshima Prefecture, the sources said.
Town authorities have agreed to allow the construction of a U.S. drill site, including a 2-km-long runway for night-landing practice that would be built by the national government, the sources said.