The city of Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, disclosed on Sept. 25 that test flights of Osprey aircrafts deployed to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Camp Kisarazu have been postponed from September to October 2020 or later. The postponement is due to delays in the delivery of materials and equipment due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) contacted Kisarazu on the same day.

The MOD plans to introduce a total of 17 Ospreys, two of which arrived at Camp Kisarazu from Marine Corps Air Base Iwakuni in July 2020. The test flights are part of the inspection process.