HIROSHIMA: The Japanese army on Wednesday began deploying its fleet of V-22 Ospreys on a newly-opened, permanent base in southwestern Japan, the country’s latest move to beef up its defense amid growing tension in the region.
The first of the fleet of 17 Ospreys safely arrived at its new home base of Camp Saga, Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force said Wednesday.
The move is part of Japan’s accelerating military buildup, especially in the southwest in recent years, as a deterrence to China’s increasingly assertive maritime actions in the area.
The tilt-rotor aircraft have been temporarily based at Camp Kisarazu, near Tokyo, since 2020 during construction of the base and other necessary facilities. The rest of the fleet is scheduled to complete its relocation in mid-August, the JGSDF officials said.
With the full, permanent deployment at Camp Saga, Japan plans to operate the Ospreys more closely with the country’s amphibious rapid deployment brigade at Ainoura, in the nearby naval town of Sasebo, as part of the ongoing plan to reinforce the defense of southwestern remote islands, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters Tuesday.
“The security environment surrounding Japan has been increasingly severe, and it is our pressing task to strengthen our island defense capabilities,” he said.
Camp Saga ground forces also work with 50 helicopters based at another nearby camp, Metabaru, as well as with air force and navy personnel based in the area.
The use of the V-22 remains controversial in Japan, especially in southern Japan, due to a series of accidents involving the aircraft.
In November 2023, a US Air Force Osprey crashed off Japan’s southern coast, killing eight people. In October 2024, a Japanese army V-22 Osprey tilted and hit the ground while attempting to take off during a joint exercise with the US military, and an investigation has found human error was the cause.
Japan starts deploying Osprey fleet at a new base to beef up southwestern defense
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Japan starts deploying Osprey fleet at a new base to beef up southwestern defense
- Japan’s accelerating military buildup, especially in the southwest in recent years, serves as a deterrence to China’s increasingly assertive maritime actions in the area
Indonesia nursing home fire kills 16: official
JAKARTA: A fire at a nursing home on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed more than a dozen people, with three others injured, a local official said Monday.
Firefighters received the report of the blaze at 8:31 p.m. Sunday at a nursing home in the North Sulawesi provincial capital Manado, said the city’s fire and rescue agency chief Jimmy Rotinsulu.
“There were 16 deaths; three (people) had burn injuries,” he told AFP.
Many bodies of the victims were found inside their rooms, Jimmy said, adding that many of the elderly residents were likely resting in their rooms in the evening when the fire broke out.
Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people — all unhurt — and transfer them to a local hospital, he said.
Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed the fire engulfing the nursing home, while locals helped to evacuate an elderly person.
Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.
A fire tore through a seven-story office building in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta this month, killing at least 22 people.
In 2023, at least 12 people were killed in the country’s east after an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.
