Japan's Ministry of Defense plans to relocate its Osprey fleet to a new camp on Kyushu island by August 2025. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

Japan’s fleet of V-22 Ospreys will move this summer to a permanent base on Kyushu, keeping to a schedule the Ministry of Defense announced two years ago, according to Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force will open Camp Saga on July 9 on former farmland west of Saga Airport in Saga prefecture, Nakatani said at a news conference Tuesday. The 17 tiltrotors and their tactical airlift wing are expected to complete the move by mid-August.

Since 2020, the Ospreys have been temporarily based at Camp Kisarazu, east of Tokyo in Chiba prefecture.

“Currently, we are preparing to open the camp and working on the construction of facilities necessary for the relocation of the Ospreys,” Nakatani said. “Construction is progressing smoothly toward completion by the end of June this year.”

Camp Saga will also become home to approximately 50 helicopters now stationed at Camp Metabaru, about 15 miles north of Saga city. Between 700 and 800 personnel are expected to be based at the new installation, including about 420 assigned to the Osprey wing, then-Saga policy director Takeshi Hirao said during a Feb. 26 prefectural assembly meeting.

Japan ordered its fleet of Ospreys from Bell Boeing in 2015. The Ground Self-Defense Force marked the arrival of the final aircraft with a ceremony at Camp Kisarazu in July.

Camp Saga will include offices, aircraft hangars, a parking apron, ammunition storage facilities, fuel tanks and two runway access roads, according to ministry plans.

The United States and Japan grounded their tiltrotor fleets for nearly three months after eight airmen were killed when a CV-22B with Air Force Special Operations Command crashed Nov. 29, 2023, near Yakushima, an island south of Kyushu.

The investigation determined a catastrophic mechanical failure was to blame, compounded by a “lack of urgency” by the crew to address an engine problem.

Stationing the Ospreys at Camp Saga will allow them to operate more closely with Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade at Camp Ainoura in Sasebo, 45 miles to the west, defense ministry spokesman Kimihito Aguin said at a separate news conference Tuesday.

“This is an urgent issue for our country and is of great significance in enhancing our country’s deterrence and response capabilities,” he said.