Japan shows the teeth. Tokyo is preparing to deploy its V-22 Ospreys fleet on a permanent basis in the southwest of its territory to strengthen its defense in a context of increasing tension in the region.
As Associated Press reports, the first of the 17 Fleet Ospreys arrived safely at its new saga camp attachment base. The objective: to meet the increasingly assertive maritime actions of China in the region.
The “fisherman”
And the V-22 Ospreys have something to scare. These gigantic tilting Rotors planes will be deployed as a means of deterrence around the distant islands in southwest Japan. “The security environment around Japan is increasingly difficult, and it is our urgent duty to strengthen our island defense capacities,” said Defense Minister, General Nakatani, facing the press.
With a length of 17.48 m for a height of 5.38 m and 24 tonnes at the weighing, the V-22 Osprey is a hybrid transport device of American design. Designed by the company Aeronautique Boeing/Bell, it has been produced in 350 copies worldwide since its marketing in December 2005.
It is mainly used by the American army to quickly deploy troops on a combat zone or transport equipment over large distances. Japan is the second customer of Boeing/Bell with its 17 models. For a price varying between $ 75 and $ 115 million depending on the contracts, the device has the particularity of having tilting rotors which allow it to take off and land vertically like a helicopter and fly like a plane.
For the rest, it has qualities comparable to those of a military troop transport plane with a radius of action of around 1,627 km for a speed between 180 and 510 km/h. The V-22 Ospreys has proven itself in particular in American operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.
But the use of the “fisherman”, its nickname, remains controversial in Japan, due to a series of accidents involving this type of plane.
In November 2023, an American Air Force Osprey crashed off the southern coast of Japan, killing eight people. In October 2024, a model of the Japanese army had lost to the point of hitting the soil as it tried to take off during a joint exercise with the American army. An investigation revealed that a human error was the cause.