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Japanese minister tries out Osprey plane at Pentagon [View all]
Source: Reuters
Japanese minister tries out Osprey plane at Pentagon
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 3, 2012 8:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - Japan's defense minister flew from the Pentagon grounds Friday in a revolutionary hybrid aircraft at the heart of a controversy that threatens to strain strong defense ties between the United States and its Asian ally.
The minister, Satoshi Morimoto, donned a white flight helmet and goggles before taking the jump-seat, between the pilots, on the flat-gray Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey troop transport.
The Pentagon is seeking to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft - which takes off like a helicopter but flies like a plane - as early as next month to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa despite strong public opposition, largely on safety grounds.
An initial shipment of 12 of the aircraft have arrived at Iwakuni Air Station, the only U.S. Marine Corps station in the main Japanese islands.
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By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 3, 2012 8:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - Japan's defense minister flew from the Pentagon grounds Friday in a revolutionary hybrid aircraft at the heart of a controversy that threatens to strain strong defense ties between the United States and its Asian ally.
The minister, Satoshi Morimoto, donned a white flight helmet and goggles before taking the jump-seat, between the pilots, on the flat-gray Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey troop transport.
The Pentagon is seeking to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft - which takes off like a helicopter but flies like a plane - as early as next month to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa despite strong public opposition, largely on safety grounds.
An initial shipment of 12 of the aircraft have arrived at Iwakuni Air Station, the only U.S. Marine Corps station in the main Japanese islands.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/04/us-japan-usa-osprey-idUSBRE8721UG20120804
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