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
Zelensky says Russia using Belarus territory to circumvent Ukrainian defenses
- While President Lukashenko has vowed to commit no troops to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory to launch its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia was using ordinary apartment blocks on the territory of its ally Belarus to attack Ukrainian targets and circumvent Kyiv’s defenses.
The Kremlin used Belarusian territory to launch its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Belarus remains a steadfast ally, though longstanding President Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to commit no troops to the conflict.
“We note that the Russians are trying to bypass our defensive interceptor positions through the territory of neighboring Belarus. This is risky for Belarus,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram after a military staff meeting.
“It is unfortunate that Belarus is surrendering its sovereignty in favor of Russia’s aggressive ambitions.”
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had observed that Belarus was deploying equipment to carry out its attacks “in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings.
“Antennae and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-story apartment buildings, which help guide ‘Shaheds’ (Russian drones) to targets in our western regions. This is an absolute disregard for human lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this.”
The Russian and Belarusian defense ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zelensky said the staff meeting also discussed ways of financing interceptor drones, which officials in Kyiv see as the best economically viable means of tackling Russian drone attacks, which have grown in intensity in recent months.
The president said the Ukrainian military’s general staff had been charged with working out changes to strategy in fending off air attacks “to defend infrastructure and frontline positions.”
Lukashenko this month said Russia’s Oreshnik ballistic missile system, described by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as impossible to intercept, had been deployed to Belarus and entered active combat duty.
An assessment by two US researchers, reported by Reuters on Friday, said Moscow was likely stationing the nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik at a former air base in eastern Belarus, a development that could bolster Russia’s ability to deliver missiles across Europe.
