Japan and the United States are discussing the possibility of transferring the U.S. Marine Corps' helicopter unit from Futenma Air Station to the U.S. Iejima Auxiliary Air Field in Okinawa Prefecture, senior Japanese officials said Saturday.
The two governments are also considering having the Self-Defense Forces take control of Futenma and dispersing other functions of the base to other facilities, but allowing U.S. forces to use Futenma to gather supplies in an emergency, the Japanese government and ruling coalition officials said.
The "dispersive" relocation plan being discussed as an alternative to the stalled relocation plan for Futenma includes transferring the midair refueling unit to either the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kanoya Base in Kagoshima Prefecture or the Air Self-Defense Force's Nyutabaru Air Base in Miyazaki Prefecture.