Mar 17 (Japan Times) - A U.S. Air Force cargo jet began on Wednesday to ship helmets and other non-lethal military kit donated by Japan to Ukraine, marking the first time an American aircraft has carried Japanese Self-Defense Forces gear to another country.
A C-17 transport jet flew from the United States to touch down at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, and pick up three truckloads of plastic-wrapped boxes. Japan’s government declined to list the equipment inside.
“We won U.S. military support to use their planes so we are sending them on those aircraft so the equipment can arrive as soon as possible,” said Makoto Oniki, Japan’s vice minister of defense.
He spoke at the U.S. military’s Asian air transport hub as ground crews behind him loaded the cargo onto the C-17, which can carry about 77 tons. ...continue reading