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Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States assured Japan that the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft is safe despite recent high-profile mishaps.
“We’ve had very good discussions with our Japanese allies on this issue. We have assured them with regards to the safety of the Ospreys,” Panetta told reporters Friday at the Pentagon. “We actually think we’ve reached a very good compromise here. They had expressed the concerns that you indicate…We’ve been able to relieve their concerns with what we’ve presented to them, but we’re going to continue to work with them.”
DoD will replace CH-46 helicopters used in Japan with MV-22 Ospreys beginning in August.
The Osprey has suffered recent accident that garnered much attention. The Marine Corps said an April MV-22 crash in Morocco was not the result of mechanical or material failure. DoD also said a review of a June CV-22 mishap in Florida has not revealed any information that would preclude the continued operation of the aircraft.
Boeing [BA], which develops the MV-22 in a joint venture with Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT], defended the safety record of the MV-22.
“Air Force Special Operations Command and the U.S. Marine Corps continue to demonstrate their confidence in the V-22 by utilizing the aircraft in critical missions,” Boeing spokesman Jeff Barnett said in a statement. “For that reason, our confidence in the aircraft’s unique capabilities, performance and survivability remains strong.”
DoD said it will refrain from any flight operations of the MV-22 in Japan until the results of the investigations are presented to the Japanese government and the safety of flight operations is confirmed. The Pentagon said it anticipates presenting this information in August. DoD said it will continue uninterrupted flight operations of the MV-22 and CV-22 elsewhere in the world, including the continental United States.
The Pentagon said in a statement the MV-22s will arrive at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni for unloading in late July.
The CV-22, also a Bell-Boeing joint venture, is the Air Force variant.