Time, cost of relocation of U.S. base in Okinawa to double
The relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base to a less-crowded area of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa will take more than twice as much money and time as previously estimated because of the need to stabilize the reclaimed land it will be built on, Japan’s government said Dec. 25.
The Defense Ministry said the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from densely populated Ginowanto Henoko on Okinawa’s eastern coast will cost 930 billion yen ($8.5 billion) and take 12 years, pushing its completion into the 2030s. That adds more than a decade to the plan, which has already been delayed by more than 20 years because of local opposition and other reasons.
Under an earlier plan agreed to by Tokyo and Washington in 2013, construction was to cost about 350 billion yen ($3.2 billion) and take five years, with completion expected in about 2022.
Most of the additional cost and time is required to stabilize and strengthen reclaimed land off the coast of Henoko that will be used for runways, the ministry said. It presented its new estimate to a panel of Japanese experts discussing the relocation plans.
Experts have found parts of the sea bottom at the planned reclamation site to be “as soft as mayonnaise” and needing to be reinforced.
Many Okinawans oppose the relocation, saying the base should be entirely removed from Okinawa. The heavy U.S. military presence on Okinawa has been a source of a long-running conflict between the island and Washington and Tokyo.
Opponents also say the relocation plan should be scrapped for environmental reasons because the site is a habitat for dugongs and corals. AP
Greece deal with Lockheed seals major air force upgrade
Greece says it has signed an agreement with U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin that will allow a major upgrade of its F-16 fighter jet fleet over the next seven years as the country emerges from a financial crisis and faces renewed tension with neighbor and fellow NATO member Turkey.
The defense ministry procurement agency announced Dec. 27 that the deal was signed Dec, 24 finalizing details of Lockheed’s use of a Greek subcontractor.
The defense minister, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, told parliament earlier this month that 84 F-16 jets would be upgraded by 2027 to the advanced-tech Viper class in a program estimated at $1.5 billion.
He said the speed of the upgrade would be determined by how many aircraft are required to remain in active service.
The U.S. State Department approved the potential deal in 2017, saying it advanced U.S. objectives “by helping to improve the security of a NATO ally which is an important partner for political stability and economic progress in Europe.” AP
U.S. astronaut sets record for longest spaceflight by a woman
A U.S. astronaut set a record Dec. 28 for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission.
Christina Koch, a 40-year-old electrical engineer from Livingston, Mont,, arrived at the International Space Station on March 14. She broke the record set by former space station commander Peggy Whitson in 2016-2017.
Koch is expected to spend a total of 328 days, or nearly 11 months, on board the space station before returning to Earth. Missions are typically six months, but NASA announced in April that it was extending her mission until February.
The U.S. record for longest space flight is 340 days set by Scott Kelly in 2015-2016. The world record is 15 months set in the 1990s by a Russian cosmonaut aboard the former Mir space station.
Koch’s extended mission will help NASA learn about the effects of long spaceflights, data that NASA officials have said is needed to support future deep space exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
Before breaking the endurance record for a woman in space, Koch set another milestone as part of the first all-female spacewalking team in October. It was Koch’s fourth spacewalk.
She previously said she took a lot of helpful advice from Kelly’s 2017 autobiography “Endurance.” AP
Another executive departs as Boeing tries to correct course
A close adviser to Boeing’s ousted CEO will also leave the company.
Mike Luttig was Boeing’s general counsel from 2006 until this spring.
Shortly after the crash of a second Boeing 737 Max, the companies premiere aircraft, he was assigned to head the company’s legal strategy and to advise the board.
Luttig, who will retire at the end of the year, is the latest executive to leave the beleaguered company. In addition to CEO Dennis Muilenburg who was pushed out this week, Kevin McAllister, the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, was forced out in October. Anne Toulouse, senior vice president of communications, will leave at the end of the year.
Luttig served 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit before joining Boeing.
“We are deeply indebted to Judge Luttig for his extraordinary service to Boeing over these nearly 14 years, especially through this past, challenging year for our company,” said interim CEO Greg Smith in a prepared statement.
In October 2018, a brand-new Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air crashed into the sea near Jakarta. Five months later, in March, an Ethiopian Airlines Max went down shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 346 people aboard the two planes were killed.
A faulty sensor caused the system to activate before the two disasters, pushing down the nose of both planes. Boeing had not told pilots about MCAS until after the Lion Air crash, and regulators at the FAA didn’t know much about it either.
Earlier this month, the House Transportation Committee disclosed an internal FAA analysis made after the first crash, which estimated that there would be 15 more fatal crashes over 45 years until Boeing fixed MCAS.
Yet the FAA did not ground the plane until the second crash. AP