TOKYO (AP) — A shipload of the U.S. military’s latest transport aircraft arrived in Japan today amid protests over safety issues that have aggravated longstanding grassroots concern over the presence of American bases in the country.
Workers began unloading and assembling the 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft in the city of Iwakuni soon after the ship arrived. The U.S. plans to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft to Okinawa to replace older CH-46 helicopters that are already there.
The Osprey deployment has become the latest rallying point for base opponents and a serious headache for officials in Tokyo and Washington hoping to calm anti-base sentiment.
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