Three more US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft arrived at the Futenma base in Okinawa, Japan, on Tuesday, a day after the first batch of six was deployed at the base.

Another three Ospreys left are still at the Marines' Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, of which two need maintenance work that requires the replacement of parts, local media reported, citing Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto.

A total of 12 Ospreys were shipped to the Iwakuni base in July and are likely to begin full operations at the Futenma Air Station by the end of this month, he said.

The second batch of the tilt-rotor aircraft left the Iwakuni base on Tuesday morning and arrived at the Futenma base in the afternoon. They followed a similar flight path of the first six Ospreys that flew on Monday.