U.S. to Deploy Reconnaissance Drones to Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa Pref., April 8 (Jiji Press)--The U.S. military will deploy several large unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to its Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture in the coming weeks, the Japanese Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau said Tuesday.

The deployment of the Triton drones is “very regrettable,” Denny Tamaki, governor of the southern Japan prefecture, said in a statement.

Tamaki said that his prefecture continues to see a situation that runs counter to efforts to reduce the burden of hosting the base, such as parachute descent training and a series of foreign aircraft arrivals.

The governor said he would urge the Okinawa Defense Bureau to reconsider the drone deployment plan and reduce the burden in a visible way.

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