The United States accepted the Defense Ministry’s request to conduct test flights in northern Kyushu of the U.S. military’s MV-22 Osprey, an aircraft that has raised protests from local communities there.

The test flights around Saga Airport will be held as early as next month. They will represent a step toward the ministry’s goal of buying 17 Ospreys from the United States and deploying the tilt-rotor aircraft to the airport for the Self-Defense Forces starting in fiscal 2019, several Japanese government sources said on Oct. 13.

The airport in Saga city is near Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, which will host the SDF’s amphibious rapid deployment brigade that will be established to defend remote Japanese islands, including the Senkaku Islands, between the main southern island of Kyushu and Taiwan.

The airport is regarded as the most suitable location for the deployment of SDF Ospreys, according to a middle-ranking lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who has detailed knowledge of defense policies.

Saga Governor Yoshinori Yamaguchi had requested the Defense Ministry to implement test flights so that residents can experience firsthand the noise level and other potential problems with the Ospreys.

In July 2014, the Defense Ministry asked then Saga Governor Yasushi Furukawa to accept the deployment of U.S. and SDF Ospreys to Saga Airport. However, the ministry failed to obtain the prefecture’s consent because local residents opposed, citing the spotty safety record of the aircraft.