Pentagon backtracks on use of convertoplanes

The US has pledged not to resume the use of converted Osprey aircraft in Japan without prior approval from the Japanese government, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

The corresponding promise to the Japanese side had been given earlier by the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin.

It should be noted that on November 29, 2023, a US military Osprey aircraft crashed off the coast of the Japanese island of Yakushima. The US military command announced that all eight crew members were killed.

The crash was the deadliest involving US-made Ospreys, which take off like helicopters but fly much faster, like aeroplanes, since their combat debut in 2007.