陸自オスプレイ 南西諸島防衛を強化したい

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Defense of Nansei Islands should be reinforced with Osprey deployment in Saga
陸自オスプレイ　南西諸島防衛を強化したい

Creating an environment for the new aircraft to show its high transport capabilities during emergencies is important for purposes such as disaster response and urgent medical transportation, let alone the defense of remote islands.
　離島防衛はもとより、災害派遣や急患搬送などで、その高い輸送能力を発揮させる環境を整えることが肝要である。

The Defense Ministry has asked the Saga prefectural government to accept its plan to deploy at Saga Airport the MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft, which the Ground Self-Defense Force plans to introduce starting next fiscal year. The ministry plans to have all 17 Ospreys deployed at the airport from fiscal 2019.
　防衛省は、陸上自衛隊が２０１５年度から調達する新型輸送機「ＭＶ２２オスプレイ」の佐賀空港への配備を佐賀県に打診した。１９年度から全１７機を佐賀空港に駐機したい考えだ。

To reinforce the defense of the Nansei Islands, including the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the GSDF plans to establish by fiscal 2018 an amphibious mobile unit modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps. The task force will be mainly comprised of an infantry regiment stationed in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, and tasked exclusively with defending remote islands. The Osprey will be assigned to transport the unit’s personnel.
　尖閣諸島など南西諸島の防衛を強化するため、陸自は１８年度までに、長崎県佐世保市に駐屯する離島防衛専門の普通科連隊を中心に、米海兵隊をモデルにした「水陸機動団」を新設する。オスプレイは、その隊員輸送を担う。

Saga Airport, which is under the administration of the Saga prefectural government, is located about 60 kilometers from Sasebo and is on the sea. The deployment of the Ospreys is reasonable in terms of allowing for a prompt response to a contingency in the Nansei Islands.
　佐賀県が管理する佐賀空港は、佐世保市から約６０キロと近く、海に面している。南西諸島の有事などに迅速に対応するうえで、オスプレイ配備は理にかなっている。

The Osprey combines the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of a helicopter and the high-speed flight of a fixed-wing aircraft. Compared to a U.S. Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the Osprey can fly about twice as fast and carry three times the load, boasting about four times the radius of action.
　オスプレイは、ヘリコプターの垂直離着陸機能と固定翼機の高速飛行の長所を兼ね備える。米海兵隊の輸送ヘリＣＨ４６と比べ、速度で約２倍、搭載量で約３倍、行動半径は約４倍の能力を持つ。

The aircraft, which can freely take off and land on a remote island with no runway, is expected to be highly effective in life-saving operations and transportation of supplies in the event of a disaster.
　滑走路のない離島でも自由に離着陸できるほか、災害時の人命救助や物資輸送などでの活躍が期待される。

After a powerful typhoon wreaked havoc on the Philippines last November, Ospreys were promptly deployed by U.S. forces for a rescue operation.
昨年１１月のフィリピンの台風被害時も、米軍オスプレイがいち早く救援活動に当たった。

Unfair reputation for danger

There has been widespread misunderstanding that the Osprey is an extremely unsafe aircraft. Yet its actual rate of accidents is lower than the average for U.S. military aircraft as a whole. It can be said that the Osprey is safer than other aircraft.
　オスプレイは極めて危険であるかのような誤解が広がっている。しかし、実際の事故率は、米軍の全航空機の平均以下で、むしろ安全な輸送機と言える。

The Air Self-Defense Force’s Komaki Base, which uses a runway of Nagoya Airport, managed by the Aichi prefectural government, is an example of a civilian airport, under the administration of a local government, used jointly by the Self-Defense Forces. The ministry has earmarked in fiscal 2014 budget runway usage fees totaling about ¥940 million to be paid to the prefecture.
　自治体管理の空港を自衛隊が共用する例としては、愛知県営名古屋空港の滑走路を使う航空自衛隊小牧基地がある。防衛省は今年度予算に約９億４０００万円の愛知県への使用料を計上している。

Saga Airport, which has not been used as originally expected, continues to struggle with expenditures about three times greater than its revenues. The shared use of the airport with the SDF, which will require coordination of opinions with such entities as local fisheries cooperatives, can be considered a realistic option.
　佐賀空港は当初の見通しほど利用されず、歳出が歳入の約３倍の状態が続く。自衛隊との共用化は、地元漁協などとの調整が必要だが、現実的な選択ではないか。

The central government must provide a thorough explanation of the Osprey’s safety to win understanding of the Saga prefectural government and other organizations concerned.
　政府は、佐賀県や関係団体にオスプレイの安全性などを丁寧に説明し、理解を得るべきだ。

The ministry has also told the Saga prefectural government that Saga Airport may temporarily host the U.S. Marine Corps’ Ospreys, currently deployed at Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture.
　防衛省は、沖縄県の米軍普天間飛行場のオスプレイが佐賀空港を暫定利用する可能性があることも佐賀県に伝えた。

The Japanese and U.S. governments plan to hold flight drills of the U.S. forces’ Ospreys at various locations in Japan, in a bid to reduce Okinawa Prefecture’s heavy burden of hosting U.S. bases.
　日米両政府は、沖縄県の過重な米軍基地負担を軽減するため、米軍オスプレイの飛行訓練を日本各地に分散移転する方針だ。

Having local governments on Honshu and elsewhere share the burden of hosting the bases with Okinawa is quite important for making the Japan-U.S. alliance a more sustainable one and for having local governments assume the costs of maintaining the peace and security of the nation more fairly. We believe the Saga prefectural government is fully aware of that significance.
　沖縄の負担を本土の自治体が分かち合うことは、日米同盟をより持続可能なものとし、平和と安全のコストをより公平に担ううえで極めて重要だ。佐賀県も、その意義を十分に分かっていよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 24, 2014)