Air Force Starts Work on $97 Million Hangar, Maintenance Facility for Ospreys in Japan

The Air Force has broken ground on a $97 million hangar and maintenance facility for special operations CV-22 Osprey aircraft at this airlift hub in western Tokyo.

By Seth Robson

Source Stars and Stripes (TNS)

June 28, 2023

2 min read

Jun. 27—YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The Air Force has broken ground on a $97 million hangar and maintenance facility for special operations CV-22 Osprey aircraft at this airlift hub in western Tokyo.

The project began Thursday on the east side of Yokota's runway, Charles Maib, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Japan Engineer District, said in an email Tuesday.

A Japanese Shinto priest took part in a ritual at the site with Ruel Binonwangan, Honshu area engineer for the Japan Engineer District, according to a photograph Maib sent by email.

The 73,300-square-foot, three-bay hangar and maintenance unit is slated to open in early 2026, Maib said in comments emailed by Yokota's public affairs office.

"This $97 million facility will go a long way in protecting the investment America has made in the CV-22 aircraft already present at Yokota Air Base," he said. "It gives them a home to call their own."

The Ospreys, helicopter-airplane hybrids flown by the 21st Special Operations Squadron, have operated from temporary facilities on Yokota since October 2018.

The new hangar will be part of a campus to support the Ospreys. The project, underway since 2019, includes 587,000 square feet — equivalent to about 10 football fields — of paved areas.

The hangar will accommodate the 753rd Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Maib said. It will host activities such as CV-22 engine and propeller maintenance, tool crib storage and aircraft inspection.

The facility enables the 353rd Special Operations Wing to consolidate all training and operations at Yokota in a new state-of-the-art facility and co-locate the CV-22 aircraft with squadron personnel, Maib said.

"This project is yet another building block in support of the U.S./ Japan Alliance, enhancing the security of the region and the efficiency of the Wing," he said.

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