Marine Ospreys to head to Okinawa early?

This news will be greeted warmly by Okinawan residents living near the U.S. Marine base at Futenma; Japan's Manichi newspaper has reported that the United States is considering deploying the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to Okinawa as early as in July, moving up the schedule from the initially planned deployment in autumn.

The Dragons of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 (HMM-265) are expected to transition to the Osprey from the Boeing-Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight sometime in 2012.