SamuraiBlue
Captain
Looks as if the Defense Ministry had selected home base for the Ospreys that they are going to acquire.
Saga Airport eyed as key base for protection of islands in East China Sea
The Defense Ministry intends to transform Saga city's commercial airport into a key military hub to protect outlying islands and counter China’s maritime advances in the East China Sea.
Specifically, the ministry plans to base controversial MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft at the northwestern Kyushu facility, which operates flights to Shanghai, Seoul and Haneda and Narita airports.
Its aim is to convert the airport into one used by both commercial and Self-Defense Force aircraft, much like Naha Airport on Okinawa.
Ryota Takeda, the parliamentary senior defense vice minister, is scheduled to meet with Saga Governor Yasushi Furukawa on July 22 to ask for his cooperation in implementing the ministry's plan.
Basing the Osprey at Saga Airport would place them closer to other important SDF facilities in the area critical to Japan’s strategy to defend its outlying islands, such as the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which are at the center of a territorial dispute with China.....to read more
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