Japan has announced that it has postponed its V-22 Osprey deliveries once again. Japan Defence Minister Takeyeshi Iwaya made a statement about postponement.
Japan had previously announced postponement in deliveries. The Japanese Minister of Defence said in a statement that the support of the local people of the region where the platforms will be deployed was not provided. This caused the decision. The V-22 Ospreys are expected to be deployed to Saga Airport in the south-western part of the country. It is still unclear when Japan will take delivery of 17 V-22s planned for the 2018 fiscal year.
The Saga Regional Administration had allowed the deployment of platforms, under the agreement. Agreement consists Japan’s additional paying of 10 billion Japanese Yen ($ 88 million) over the 20-year period. However, the people of the region do not want the V-22 to be deployed in the region because of the high level of noise and the aircraft is not safe enough. The people think that because of Marine Corps (USMC) V-22s, which have been stationed since 2012, are unsafe because of the high accident rate. USMC V-22s, stationed in Japan, experienced an Class A accidents of 3.27 per 100,000 flight hours since 2012.
