The Vice Defense Minister of Japan, Hideo Jinpu, has an appointment to visit the U.S. Pentagon today in order to discuss the April 11th crash of a MV-22 Osprey aircraft that killed two Marines in Morocco. There has been ongoing resistance against the Japanese government and U.S. Military for their attempts to have the Osprey transport vehicle deployed at the base in Okinawa. The Moroccan crash was the first in a series of accidents that has the residents of Okinawa refusing to accept the aircrafts until their safety can be proven without a doubt.
As part of the attempts by the Japanese government to prove to the public that their safety is of the utmost importance, Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto made his own visit to the Pentagon on August 3rd in order to take a ride in an Osprey. While initially offering some information about the accidents, the Pentagon is now also trying to appease the Japanese people by sharing much more unreleased information in order to prove the crashes were caused by pilot error and not mechanical failure.
Once protests against the MV-22 accelerated, the U.S. maintained their delivery of 12 of the aircrafts to the military base in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, but reached an agreement with the Japanese government that they would not be assembled or flown until the detailed crash information was provided. The aircrafts are designed solely for transport, and are not used in any way for combat. Their rotating propellers allow for vertical take-offs and landings, but also let the plane move at faster speeds than the aging helicopters they are meant to replace.
[via AOL]