U.S. continues to fly Osprey aircraft in Japan, despite Tokyo's request not to

The US should follow Japan's request and stand down all Osprey.

It seems to be an issue of poor maintenance on the US side. The Japanese Ospreys do not have the same issues.

Gotta respect your host country's wishes even if you disagree.

One is the master the other the vassal state.

Would be appropriate to have a pause of a fixed duration and don't allow it to be extended.

"Right now, the Ospreys are still operating in Japan."

Shop till you drop, fly till it crash (again).

The US military is a sociopathic bully.

It is at tmes like these that the true nature of the relationship between the US and Japan is laid bare for all to see.

This is simply incredible, yet not surprising US behavior.

The uncomfortable truth for the Japanese people is that if their government really wanted ANYTHING to happen regarding U.S. forces in Japan, they could make it happen....TOMORROW!

They could issue an ultimatum to the U.S. government tamhat if the U.S. didn't cease Osprey operations immediately, Japan would unilaterally terminate all agreements in place, expel U.S. forces within 90 days, by force if necessary, and immediately stop funding the costs of U.S. forces in Japan.

They could do it and the U.S. would be forced to comply.

So, why don't they do this?!

zones2surfToday 07:59 am JST

So, why don't they do this?!

Could negatively effect their long term security?

Reality sets in…

Kamikawa looks mightily unhappy in the picture as Rahm tells her that it is the US in control of Japan and not the Japanese government.

Time for the US military to leave. They've been sponging off Japan for far too long.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

These are the pinnacle of US engineering.

i.e. Junk.

Typical US arrogance..do what I say not sure hat I do!

Time for the US military to leave. They've been sponging off Japan for far too long.

You really should look up the meaning of words before using them "sponging" would be more appropriate in regards to what Japan has been doing, thanks to the presence of said US military here.

Without which, Japan would be a totally different country than it is today, and odds are pretty high, you wouldn't be here!

Japan had to spend a pittance on it's defense over the past decades since the war, and thanks to the protective umbrella of the US, able to build itself into what it is, for better or worse, today!

Sure there needs to be adjustments in the relationship, and it's happening all the time.

The world is not so "black and white" and folks need to stop being so naive!

You’d think after what, 70+ years Japan would get the hint. “They don’t care about your requests”

N. KnightToday 09:09 am JST

These are the pinnacle of US engineering.

i.e. Junk.

That's how we put a man on the moon and are going to be the first ones back there on private spacecraft, right?

There's the arrogance of the US military making an appearance as expected.

You really should look up the meaning of words before using them "sponging" would be more appropriate in regards to what Japan has been doing

For the first few decades following WW2 it was thought by many that the US needed to be in Japan to help defend Japan but also to prevent Japan from rearming and threatening its neighbors at it did from the 1890s to the 1940s.

That fear is now gone as Japan is a very different and more peaceful society. It's time for Japan to truly stand up, independently engage with regional partners and kindly ask the American military to go home.

It seems to be an issue of poor maintenance on the US side. The Japanese Ospreys do not have the same issues.

You have no way of knowing that and I doubt that you are qualified to make that assertion, it could be a manufacturing fault or even operator misuse. Unless you have specialist knowledge and can back up your claim with evidence you should wait for the results of the investigation.

As an occupied country, Japan will do as it is told by it's Master, the RS of the USA.

AndyToday 09:59 am JST

As an occupied country, Japan will do as it is told by it's Master, the RS of the USA.

What is the RS again?

Just like with most American military hardware, the Ospreys were designed to maximize profits for the MIC, not ease of operation and maintenance.

deanzaZZRToday 09:55 am JST

Yeah, none of that has to do with whether Japan is paying the full cost of hosting US troops or even the full cost minus the salaries.

Not surprised not even an ichi yen.

The solution has always been simple. Has nothing to do with the Osprey at all. If you want a smaller U.S military presence, then you start recruiting. No university, no vocational schools, direct to the JMSDF.

Send those recruiters to the schools. Tell the parents it's time to enlist your children.

Then you tell the U.S. Hey, we're good! We can handle China, Russia and North Korea on our own. We'll call you if we need you.

Build surveillance stations, buy a sonar field, build batteries and missile defense along the entire coastline and finally deploy ships and aircraft every day while paying for the gas, food, maintenance, ammunition, etc.

What might be surprising and good news to you here, is that the U.S will be more than happy to sell you all of these things.

= No more Osprey flights.

Japan has no rights to protest or request the activities of US occupying forces in Japan. That was written on paper!

zones2surfToday  07:59 am JST

They could issue an ultimatum to the U.S. government tamhat if the U.S. didn't cease Osprey operations immediately, Japan would unilaterally terminate all agreements in place, expel U.S. forces within 90 days, by force if necessary, and immediately stop funding the costs of U.S. forces in Japan.

They could do it and the U.S. would be forced to comply.

So, why don't they do this?!

Because;

The USFJ and JSDF are very integrated operationally, with the former having massive offensive as well as nuclear power and the latter constitiutionally restrained to defense. both sharing common adversaries. With both China and Russia being nuclear powers, the value to Japan of being under the US Nuclear Umbrella is immeasurable.

Both parties to the US-JPN Mutual Defense Treaty have the right to terminate the agreement provided 12 months advance notice is given. Nobody is kicking anyone out in 90 days.

The US could easily temporarily stop these flights as per request of the host country and ally but they don't so it continues to contaminate relations and the people's perception of American arrogance. It makes Japan look impotent.

Even after guaranteeing Japan's protection, even after the US locking down entire bases when Japan blamed them for Covid spikes, even after the goodwill gesture of purchasing their seafood after they got on China's badside, Japan is still absurdly ungrateful to the US military presence in their country.

At this point, maybe the US should just pull out, save some money, defend the homefront, and feed them to the wolves.

Japan is not a good ally and a terrible host for foreign laborers, IT professionals, abroad students, English teachers, military, ect. Japan is essentially carried and propped up by foreign influences and yet they act like foreign people on their soil are some kind of nuisance and are always in the way. It's absolutely disgusting and lacking in self-awareness. They are duplicitous and unworthy of trust.

Japan has a weird concept of safety. People (especially politicians) say things like "ensure this can never happen again", "safety is confirmed" and expect that these are even possible. They resign "to take responsibility", or "offer further explanation" regarding what happened. These are just ways to sweep the actual problem aside. You can only reduce the probability of something happening again to an acceptable level which will never be zero. Taking responsibility means staying on the job and solving the problem. Further explanations are fine except they don't change what happened. Based on overall statistics the V-22 Osprey is a safe aircraft. If you don't agree, get your facts together and prove it.

If you don't like it Japan, then next time you start a war with us, DON'T LOSE.

It seems to be an issue of poor maintenance on the US side. The Japanese Ospreys do not have the same issues.

Japan's Ospreys were the last ones off the production line and thus are the newest and have the fewest flight hours of all the V-22s in the world. V-22 production is complete and the production line is now shut down.

Fly them over US cities instead for training, w@nkers.

The fly over our city and so far nothing bad has happened .........

If you don't like it Japan, then next time you start a war with us, DON'T LOSE.

What century are you living in? I mean let's be for real, what was once the reason for having bases in Japan, and other "Losers" from WW2, is totally different today.

The relationships have changed, and so have the circumstances.

Bring your thinking up to date!

They could issue an ultimatum to the U.S. government tamhat if the U.S. didn't cease Osprey operations immediately, Japan would unilaterally terminate all agreements in place, expel U.S. forces within 90 days, by force if necessary, and immediately stop funding the costs of U.S. forces in Japan.

They could do it and the U.S. would be forced to comply.

So, why don't they do this?!

The Marines cannot operate without the V-22. Simple as that. They no longer operate the old CH-46. Without Tilt Rotors there is no way to move Marines from the ship inland. The days of ships deploying landing craft to hit the beach WWII style are probably over, especially if one's enemy has any number of anti ship cruise missiles. Future amphibious operations will be conducted mostly by air assault. Landing craft will be used after some territory is secure enough to allow ships to come in close to shore. The prototype for this kind of assault was the November 2001 Marine Corps assault on an airfield in Afghanistan called Rhino. It was conducted entirely by air over 400 nautical miles from ships in the North Arabian Sea.

And obtw, the US Army is contracting with Bell to replace the entire UH/MH-60 Blackhawk fleet with the V-280 tilt rotor aircraft.

What a shame/disgrace, country's sovereignty?? The key word, "Tokyo's REQUEST", and its in its own country's territory, Japan.

What more can be said???

It seems to me the government just request the US military not to fly them for a little while until investigation is over. Many busy pilots and soldiers want a nice break for a little while as soldiers are training hard, so they need break sometimes. It means they forget to protect Japan for a little while. I think some soldiers worry about accident. Why not enjoy nice break until investigation is over?

Time for the US military to leave and end this occupation.

What a disgrace! What a caricature! Tokyo asks Washington not to fly Ospreys in Japan, which have turned out to be structurally very unreliable and defective.as shown by the recent crash of an AV-22 Osprey off Yakushima. To this, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel asserted that the U.S. would continue to operate them.

USMC operates 24 Ospreys at Futenma, Okinawa, and USAF 6 at Yokota, Tokyo, 30 Ospreys altogether. They fly over densely populated residential areas routinely, causing anxiety among citizens below their routine flight routes.

Some posters say Japan lost the war 78 years ago, and, so they say, what's wrong with the victorious U. S. in using the loser Japan for whatever purpose it may regard suit.

If such mentality dominates the mind of people in power in Washington, no doubt, Japan is under U.S. occupation still now.

U.S. military aircraft violating Japanese airspace? Any violating flying objects were to be shot down, according to an earlier article here...

If such mentality dominates the mind of people in power in Washington, no doubt, Japan is under U.S. occupation still now.

Looser mentality here! Not something experienced on their own either.

No Need to prove it.

Hence the new model Osprey that's in production and the halt of the V22 production

Nope. The V-280 is not a follow on to the V-22. The Marines are not buying the V-280. The Marines are not involved in its development.

The V-280 was designed to meet a US Army specification for a transport rotorcraft with a specific payload, speed and range capability to replace the UH/MH-60 series helicopters the US Army operates. The other competitor in the program was a coaxial rotor compound helicopter, the Sikorsky S-97 Raider. The Raider never met the speed objective and lost the competition. The Valor won't have any of the shipboard features like blade fold and wing fold the V-22 has. The Valor would require a major redesign to be shipboard compatible.

US should obey with the simple and logical request from Japan. Eventually the request can save lives of American soldiers as well as reducing the risks for Japanese people. It doesn’t make any sense to continue using the high risk aircraft, at least not before an in depth investigation to develop more strict SOPs, and improving any structural parts that maybe needed.

Good thing it's not a passenger airline. Who want to fly the friendly skies on Osprey Airlines. If the FAA had any say, that bird would be grounded.

The US should follow Japan's request and stand down all Osprey.

It seems to be an issue of poor maintenance on the US side. The Japanese Ospreys do not have the same issues.

Where does one start. It's a master and servant type deal obviously and they get no say in the matter. That's how these things work.

Have the maintenance logs been revealed? They have not been leaked yet. There is little evidence that improper maintenance alone is the cause as to opposed to any number of factors.

Same tail number of same branch has been known to land at a place north of Tokyo that featured on a previous article, often in concert with an Extender.

There are other pressing issues in the USAF. NORAD and secret bars with beer and hard liquor behind keypad access doors for senior officers that also featured computers with access to the Pentagon’s secret email system. This is USA Today:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/29/norad-secret-bar-investigation/71743151007/

Yep, Japan is under US occupation…

The far afield Ospreys are returning to their home nests first. Do you want them inspected on a mountain top?

wolfshineToday  10:22 am JST

Even after guaranteeing Japan's protection, even after the US locking down entire bases when Japan blamed them for Covid spikes, even after the goodwill gesture of purchasing their seafood after they got on China's badside, Japan is still absurdly ungrateful to the US military presence in their country.

Not really.

At this point, maybe the US should just pull out, save some money, defend the homefront, and feed them to the wolves.Japan is not a good ally 

There is no greater regionally strategic location from where the US can project it's power in safety. Has been true during the Korean War and Vietnam and will continue thanks to China's threats against Taiwan and attempt to take over the entire South and East China Seas. That the US considers Japan a good ally is a fact.

KniknaknokkaerToday 01:58 pm JST

CaptDingleheimerToday  10:42 am JST

If you don't like it Japan, then next time you start a war with us, DON'T LOSE.

You might want to have a word with your military about winning wars.

Pro-tip: you have to be in wars to win wars and the US has won all but two.

Time for the US military to leave.

No, Japan is not suicidal.

They've been sponging off Japan for far too long.

And vice versa.

Pro-tip: you have to be in wars to win wars and the US has won all but two.

This should be good. Which 2 are you stating the US has "lost"?

CaptDingleheimerToday  10:42 am JST

If you don't like it Japan, then next time you start a war with us, DON'T LOSE.

A really D/A comment that no US serviceman or woman would blurt out.

You might want to have a word with your military about winning wars.

Huh. I didn't realize we lost WWII.

Just another punch in the nose for Japan.

How many more will die from the arrogant americans?

YubaruDec. 1 08:16 pm JST

Pro-tip: you have to be in wars to win wars and the US has won all but two.

This should be good. Which 2 are you stating the US has "lost"?

Vietnam and Afghanistan. The jury is still out on what Iraq will be like in the end. Russia lost Afghanistan and Ukraine ain't looking to good for them.

Vietnam and Afghanistan. The jury is still out on what Iraq will be like in the end. Russia lost Afghanistan and Ukraine ain't looking to good for them.

And before you comment you really should learn about US history, there are quite a few more!

And just counting from WW2, Korean War, Viet Nam war, the Bay of Pigs invasion, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

There are others too!

Japan, have more dignity..

Stop that flying crap over your country..

YubaruToday 05:35 am JST

Vietnam and Afghanistan. The jury is still out on what Iraq will be like in the end. Russia lost Afghanistan and Ukraine ain't looking to good for them.

And before you comment you really should learn about US history, there are quite a few more!

And just counting from WW2, Korean War, Viet Nam war, the Bay of Pigs invasion, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

There are others too!

So yeah, if you completely assume the US can't do anything right and have no real knowledge of history, you would spout such nonsense. The facts are different, though: Korean War was a minor victory and Iraq, as I said, is still to be decided. It is NOT just a proxy of Iran, yet. The Bay of Pigs was not a war, but thank you for playing.

AureliusToday 09:38 am JST

Pro-tip: you have to be in wars to win wars and the US has won all but two.

No no No

Yes yes Yes

Pretending not to be in a war doesn't count

Instigating them and supplies of weapons to sustain wars in the guise of intervention peace keeping missions also doesn't count

Wars that the USA are involved in

The wars I mentioned did not fit into the proxy category or the the peace keeping operation category.

And don't try to say the USA isn't involved in Ukraine or Israel conflicts

They are not 1st category wars with massive US casualties, that is for sure. There haven't been any US service member casualties in Ukraine or Israel in fact.

Anything NATO is involved in is led by the USA

Ok

Furthermore to say the USA won WW2 is just arrogant BS !

We certainly didn't lose it or come to draw. Japan and half of Germany surrendered to the US and western allies.

Japan, have more dignity..

Stop that flying crap over your country..

It's a strange comment as both the Japanese and US military's have operated helicopters and fixed wing aircraft with much higher mishap rates per 100,000 flight hours than the V-22.

The USAF uses their CV-22 variant for special missions, combat search and rescue and some classified missions, not combat assault from ships the way the Marines use their V-22Bs. The USAF's five year mishap rate per 100,000 flight hours is 0.80 and their lifetime mishap rate is 0.32, compared to a little over 3.0 per 100,000 flight hours for the US Marines. The USAF mishap rate is below the overall mishap rate for the US Air Force and likewise the Marine Corps V-22 mishap rate is below average for Navy Marine Corps aircraft. The C-20, F/A-18C/D, AV-8B and CH-53E all have higher mishap rates than the V-22. The Air Force only bought 54 CV-22s while the Marines bought around 220 and their fleet has exceeded 1 million flight hours. More exposure and a more dangerous flying environment. Incidentally the C-130 Hercules has a higher mishap rate than the V-22.