The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee advised this week that funding for the U.S. military realignment in the Pacific continue to be denied due to the lack of a clear timetable and cost estimate for the completion of a replacement facility for the Futenma airbase in Okinawa.
"Uncertain time lines for completing necessary projects, such as a replacement facility for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, will likely lead to additional U.S. costs," a report by the panel released Wednesday says. "Uncertainty about those costs cautions against lifting congressional restrictions on Department of Defense spending to implement some of the posture changes until detailed estimates are completed and provided to Congress."
Despite the recent reaffirmation by Tokyo and Washington that they will stick to a 2005 agreement to build Futenma's replacement on reclaimed land in Henoko, and despite Abe's announcement earlier this month that Futenma would be returned to Japan sometime after 2022, the Senate committee expressed deep skepticism this will ever happen.