Latest news with #Kadena
NHK
10-06-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Defense minister apologizes for dud bomb explosion in Okinawa
Japan's Defense Minister Nakatani Gen has apologized for a dud bomb explosion in the southern prefecture of Okinawa that injured four Japanese Self-Defense Force personnel. The minor explosion occurred on Monday at a depot on the premises of the US military's Kadena Ammunitions Storage Area in Yomitan Village. Four Self-Defense Force personnel suffered burns and other injuries. The depot is controlled by the prefecture. Nakatani apologized for the accident on Tuesday, adding that no damage has been confirmed so far around the depot. He said he has set up an investigative panel in the Ground Self-Defense Force to look into the cause of the blast and measures to prevent a recurrence. Nakatani said his ministry will continue work to recover unexploded bombs, while ensuring safety. He said if the work is stopped, duds found by local residents will have to be left where they are, disrupting people's daily lives.
Al Arabiya
09-06-2025
- General
- Al Arabiya
Four injured in explosion at US air base in Japan
An explosion injured four men at a Japanese facility for storing unexploded bombs at a US air base in Okinawa on Monday, a fire official said, with their condition reportedly not critical. Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) members at the facility at Kadena Air Base were trying to wipe rust off items at the facility to re-assess if they were bombs, said local fire department official Akira Kamiunten. During that process there was an explosion that injured four male SDF members who were rushed to hospital, he told AFP. Jiji Press and other local media said none of the injuries was life-threatening. A defense ministry spokesman also confirmed reports of an explosion at Kadena Air Base, located on the main island of the southern region of Okinawa. During World War II, Japan used Okinawa as a buffer to slow US forces. More than a quarter of the main island's civilian population died in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. US occupation only ended there in 1972, under a mutual treaty that left American bases in place. Today, Okinawa contains 70 percent of the land used for US bases in Japan, and more than half of the 50,000-strong US troop presence.
NHK
09-06-2025
- NHK
Explosion at US base in southern Japan injures 4 SDF members
An explosion at a US military base in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, has injured four members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Police say fire officials informed them of the blast in Yomitan Village on Monday morning. Prefectural officials say the blast occurred at a temporary warehouse for unexploded bombs. The facility, located in the Kadena ammunition storage area, is overseen by the prefectural government. The officials say none of the four injured SDF personnel is in life-threatening condition.
The Herald Scotland
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
US military parades 53 warplanes at Kedena AFB in Japan
"Working alongside our allies and partners, Kadena stands ready to project airpower throughout the region to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific," said Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, commander of the base's 18th Wing. Military exercises and other demonstrations like the one on Tuesday are routine and often conducted by large military powers, including the United States and its allies. More often than not, they are symbolic shows intended as a form of deterrence. The Indo-Pacific region has been in a state of high tension for more than a decade over U.S.-China relations, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea. Why the 'war' games? China launches 'punishment' drills around Taiwan. Here's why Beijing says it's doing it Photographs released by the Air Force show fighter jets and large military aircraft in formation alongside helicopters and drones, with the two Patriot air defense missiles flanking either side of the expansive runway. Where is Kadena Air Base? Kadena Air Base is on the Japanese island of Okinawa, sandwiched between Japan and Taiwan in the East China Sea. Its proximity makes it the closest military outpost to Taiwan, a self-governed island allied to the U.S. China considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory and has vowed to pursue unification, including by force. The base is the largest U.S. outpost in the region, rivaled only by Camp Humphreys in South Korea. More: Elon Musk visits Pentagon as Trump administration denies he saw top secret China war plans What is an 'elephant walk'? 'Elephant walk' is an Air Force term for a close formation of aircraft taxiing en masse before takeoff, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. "An elephant walk like this sends a message you can't ignore--it shows our Airmen, allies, and adversaries that we're united, capable, and ready," said Chief Master Sgt. Brandon Wolfgang. "This kind of teamwork and presence is exactly how we maintain deterrence in the Indo-Pacific." Kathryn Palmer is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@ and on X @KathrynPlmr.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
This 53-aircraft ‘elephant walk' in Japan might be the largest we've ever seen
Like the rest of us, the Air Force's tradition of 'elephant walks' is apparently not immune to inflation, because last weekend's display at Kadena Air Base in Japan is the largest we've ever seen. More than four dozen aircraft, plus a battery of anti-aircraft missiles, put on a 'walk' last weekend. The Air Force aircraft included: 24 F-35As; eight F-15E Strike Eagles; six HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters; two MQ-9 Reaper drones; two MC-130J Commando II special ops tankers; six KC-135 tankers; an RC-135 Rivet Joint, a spy plane that eavesdrop on radio and other communications; and an E-3G Sentry, or AWACS platform. The Navy chipped in two EA-18G Growler electronic warfare fighter-bombers and one P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunter. The Army flanked the formation with two Patriot missile launchers. That's 53 planes, which beats by one the 52-aircraft elephant walk at Hill Air Force Base in Utah that we wrote about in 2020. But more remarkable than the total number is the variety of airframes on display, which range from in-the-dirt rescue helicopters to secrecy-shrouded heavy jets that serve as spy planes, command posts and submarine hunters. Most of the planes in the elephant walk are flown by crews at Kadena, including the HH-60s, KC-135s, and E-3s (Kadena has F-15 squadrons, but the strike fighters in the formation were from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, according to an Air Force release). The other aircraft, the Air Force said, 'regularly operate out of Kadena, day in and day out.' 'An elephant walk like this sends a message you can't ignore—it shows our Airmen, allies, and adversaries that we're united, capable, and ready,' said 18th Wing command chief master sergeant Brandon Wolfgang in a release. 'This kind of teamwork and presence is exactly how we maintain deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.' The RC-135 Rivet Joint and P-8 are electronic reconnaissance aircraft, stuffed with listening devices for radios, cell phones and other electromagnetic spying (the P-8 also has a direct anti-submarine mission). Rivet Joints are based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and have been spotted in recent months trolling the coast of Mexico in what are reported to be missions spying on drug cartel operations. The array of tankers required for that many fuel-thirsty jets is interesting. The KC-135s in back can refuel most of the Air Force's planes with their fuel boom, but the MC-130Js are designed to refuel helicopters like the HH-60s via a drogue system. The Navy Growlers also use the drogue system. The flyers at Kadena, it seems, need little prompting to put on a show. The base held a similar, 33-aircraft elephant walk a year ago. Commandant says Marines should have a say in whether they change duty stations Space Force Special Operations Command is on its way Army reverses course on banning fun and games for soldiers in Kuwait A meal card foul-up at Fort Johnson underscores a bigger Army problem Sailor wins $7,500 settlement after his car was towed and auctioned off while deployed
