New Japan SDF base construction for U.S. drills to be delayed to 2030

A new Self-Defense Forces base on an uninhabited southwestern Japan island that is scheduled to host U.S. fighter jet drills is expected to be completed in March 2030, three years behind schedule, according to the Defense Ministry.The delay in base completion on Kagoshima Prefecture's Mage Island is mainly due to manpower and material shortages for building provisional facilities to accommodate construction workers following a powerful earthquake that hit Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day, the ministry's local bureau said earlier this month.Construction began in January 2023 and was ini…READ FULL ARTICLE