The U.S. military said Tuesday that five Air Force CV-22 Ospreys will deploy to Yokota Air Base in Tokyo later this week in a move that comes over a year ahead of schedule and despite public concerns over the safety of the tilt-rotor aircraft.
It will be the first deployment of the Osprey to a military base in Japan outside the southern prefecture of Okinawa, where the bulk of U.S. forces in the country are stationed.
The deployment schedule was brought forward from the U.S. fiscal year that begins in October 2019. In a statement, the U.S. military said the sped up deployment of the CV-22s was to address regional security concerns.