thedrifter
02-09-06, 07:19 AM
Thursday February 9, 8:54 AM
U.S. Marines to deploy hybrid aircraft in Okinawa in FY 2013
(Kyodo) _ The U.S. Marine Corps plans to begin deploying hybrid MV-22 Osprey aircraft in place of old helicopters in Okinawa in fiscal 2013, which begins Oct. 1, 2012, a U.S. Defense Department official said Wednesday.
The Marines originally planned the deployment in 2007 or 2008, but faced strong local opposition due to safety concerns about the Osprey, which has been involved in several fatal crashes.
The new schedule comes in line with an alternative plan agreed to last October between Japan and the United States for relocating the Marines' Futemma Air Station to an airfield to be built at the Marines' Camp Schwab and adjacent waters in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
"The current plan calls for MV-22 transition on Okinawa from fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2015," the official said.
The Osprey is a tilt-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to meet the amphibious and vertical assault needs of the Marines, replacing the aging fleet of Vietnam War-era helicopters.
Its CV-22 version meets the long-range needs of special operations forces. The Pentagon will boost the number of such forces as one of the new strategies under the Quadrennial Defense Review issued last week.
The planned deployment in Okinawa boosts the Marines' capabilities in line with the QDR's plan for a greater Pacific presence.
Meanwhile, 8,000 Marine troops will be relocated from Okinawa --6,000 to Guam and 1,000 to elsewhere in Japan -- under the October bilateral agreement on the realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
But local authorities in Okinawa remain opposed to the new relocation plan for the Futemma base, and the two countries are working to compile final implementation plans by March for the October agreement.
Washington and Tokyo originally planned to build a sea-based civilian-military airport on the reef off Camp Schwab under their agreement in 1996 to vacate the Futemma base in five to seven years on condition that its helicopter functions are relocated within the prefecture.
Fueling safety concerns in Okinawa about U.S. military planes recently, a U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed in the Pacific off Okinawa during a dogfight drill involving three other airplanes last month.
The incident came after a U.S. Marine helicopter from the Futemma base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, crashed on the neighboring private university campus in August 2004. No one on the ground was killed in that accident.
Under the fiscal 2007 budget plan issued Monday, the Pentagon is seeking to procure 14 MV-22s and two CV-22s, following its requests for nine MV-22s and two CV-22s in fiscal 2006.
The Pentagon's long-term procurement plan calls for a total of 458 Osprey planes -- 360 MV-22s for the Marines, 50 CV-22s for the U.S. Special Operations Command, and 48 HV-22s for the Navy in strike and rescue operations.
Ellie
U.S. Marines to deploy hybrid aircraft in Okinawa in FY 2013
(Kyodo) _ The U.S. Marine Corps plans to begin deploying hybrid MV-22 Osprey aircraft in place of old helicopters in Okinawa in fiscal 2013, which begins Oct. 1, 2012, a U.S. Defense Department official said Wednesday.
The Marines originally planned the deployment in 2007 or 2008, but faced strong local opposition due to safety concerns about the Osprey, which has been involved in several fatal crashes.
The new schedule comes in line with an alternative plan agreed to last October between Japan and the United States for relocating the Marines' Futemma Air Station to an airfield to be built at the Marines' Camp Schwab and adjacent waters in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
"The current plan calls for MV-22 transition on Okinawa from fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2015," the official said.
The Osprey is a tilt-rotor, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to meet the amphibious and vertical assault needs of the Marines, replacing the aging fleet of Vietnam War-era helicopters.
Its CV-22 version meets the long-range needs of special operations forces. The Pentagon will boost the number of such forces as one of the new strategies under the Quadrennial Defense Review issued last week.
The planned deployment in Okinawa boosts the Marines' capabilities in line with the QDR's plan for a greater Pacific presence.
Meanwhile, 8,000 Marine troops will be relocated from Okinawa --6,000 to Guam and 1,000 to elsewhere in Japan -- under the October bilateral agreement on the realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan.
But local authorities in Okinawa remain opposed to the new relocation plan for the Futemma base, and the two countries are working to compile final implementation plans by March for the October agreement.
Washington and Tokyo originally planned to build a sea-based civilian-military airport on the reef off Camp Schwab under their agreement in 1996 to vacate the Futemma base in five to seven years on condition that its helicopter functions are relocated within the prefecture.
Fueling safety concerns in Okinawa about U.S. military planes recently, a U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed in the Pacific off Okinawa during a dogfight drill involving three other airplanes last month.
The incident came after a U.S. Marine helicopter from the Futemma base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, crashed on the neighboring private university campus in August 2004. No one on the ground was killed in that accident.
Under the fiscal 2007 budget plan issued Monday, the Pentagon is seeking to procure 14 MV-22s and two CV-22s, following its requests for nine MV-22s and two CV-22s in fiscal 2006.
The Pentagon's long-term procurement plan calls for a total of 458 Osprey planes -- 360 MV-22s for the Marines, 50 CV-22s for the U.S. Special Operations Command, and 48 HV-22s for the Navy in strike and rescue operations.
Ellie