JAPAN

Ospreys might flee Okinawa to nest in Yokota

An MV-22 Osprey launches from the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island on Aug. 16 in this photo provided by the U.S. Navy. A crewman was killed when one of the tilt-rotor aircraft lost power shortly after takeoff last month, the first American fatality in ongoing military operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. | REUTERS

Kyodo

Oct 5, 2014

Japan and the United States may deploy a dozen CV-22 Ospreys at U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo next July in an apparent move to appease residents in Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. forces, a Japanese government source said.

The deployment would base the funky tilt-rotor transport aircraft, which has a spotty safety record, on one of Japan's main islands for the first time, the source said Saturday.

Tokyo and Washington initially planned to deploy 12 Ospreys at U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to replace its C-130 transport planes.

Ospreys might flee Okinawa to nest in Yokota

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