13 Marine Aircraft to Deploy to Australia
13 Marine Aircraft to Deploy to Australia 25 Januari 2017 USMC MV-22 Ospreys (photo : Stars and Stripes) The Marine Corps this spring is sending its largest aircraft element to date -- four tilt-rotor Ospreys and five Super Cobra and four Huey helicopters, all out of Hawaii -- to the next $25 million rotation of Marines to northern Australia as the Corps continues to redistribute its forces around the Pacific. The Marines are moving to four major forward areas of operation over the next decade -- Japan, Guam, Hawaii and Australia -- as part of a "distributed laydown" that seeks to deter growing threats in the vast Asia-Pacific region, particularly from from China and North Korea. The Osprey, with its long range and speed, is seen as a key connector for the Marine Corps in its new island-hopping strategy. In November 2011, President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that U.S. Marines would be sent on six-month rotational deployments to train wi...