TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s V-22 Osprey aircraft will conduct casualty evacuation drills in June from Miyako Island, marking the first time it has operated from the island located about 360 kilometers from Taiwan.
The exercise will take place during the Resolute Dragon joint drill conducted by the JGSDF and the US Marine Corps from June 20-30 across Okinawa and Kyushu prefectures, simulating the defense of remote islands, per Jiji Press. The JGSDF plans to use a V-22 Osprey to rehearse transporting casualties from Miyako Island to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa’s Ginowan City.
The drill will mark the first time a JGSDF Osprey has landed on or taken off from Miyako Island and the first exercise involving the aircraft at a US military base in Okinawa Prefecture, according to Jiji Press. Separate logistics drills using JGSDF Ospreys and US military aircraft are also planned on Ishigaki Island.
The JGSDF had originally planned to deploy its Ospreys to Okinawa during another joint Japan-US exercise held in February and March, but later canceled the flights, Jiji Press reported.
In October 2024, a JGSDF V-22 Osprey became unstable during takeoff on Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture and struck the ground during joint drills with US forces, causing partial damage, per USNI News. Following the incident, the Okinawa prefectural government in January asked the Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau not to use Ospreys during the February-March exercises.
