Hamura Peace Committee, a civic group based in western Tokyo, is complaining that U.S. Air Force CV-22 Ospreys are flying over the city with machine guns mounted on the ramp.
Staff Sgt. Justin O’Brien, 7th Special Operations Squadron special mission aviator, performs preflight checks on a CV-22 Osprey’s ramp-mounted weapon system, a .50-caliber GAU-21 heavy machine gun Mar. 7, 2017, on RAF Mildenhall, England. When assigned to the tail position of the aircraft, SMAs are responsible for operating the RMW, weight and balance, clearing the landing zone and alternate insertions and extraction methods, among other duties. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt Chris Sullivan)
Since end of 2018, a total of 30 flights were observed with machine guns mounted.
“We cannot tolerate such flights, in which they conduct training pretending that our neighborhoods are targets, and therefore instilling fear in us,” the residents complain.
