On 7/22, Vice Minister of Defense Ryota Takeda met with Governor Yasushi Furukawa at the Saga Prefectural Office to ask him to accept the deployment of 17 Osprey tilt-rotor cargo aircraft at Saga Airport in FY2015. Vice Minister Takeda said the government selected Saga as the “best option” to help alleviate the burden on Okinawa, and he indicated the possibility that the US Marine Corps might also station their Osprey in Saga. The Osprey, along with 50 helicopters that will be moved to Saga Airport from JGSDF Camp Metabaru in Yoshinogari, Saga Prefecture will be used to provide logistic support to a new amphibious unit in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. The government expects to station 700~800 SDF members at Saga Airport. Governor Furukawa expressed concern over stationing armed forced at a civilian airport and asked the Vice Minister to give him time to “ask the citizens” about the move. The Saga City Assembly rejected a similar request in 2010. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 7/23
