Beijing's airbases in South China Sea 'ready for use'



WASHINGTON • China appears to have largely completed major construction of military infrastructure on artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea and can now deploy combat planes and other military hardware there at any time, a US think-tank said.

The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), part of Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the work was carried out on what it calls the "Big Three" airbases - on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs - in the Spratly Islands.

The bases have air, naval, radar and defensive facilities. The think-tank cited satellite images taken this month, which its director Greg Poling said showed new radar antennas on Fiery Cross and Subi. "So look for deployments in the near future," he said.

China has denied US charges that it is militarising the South China Sea, although Premier Li Keqiang said last week that defence equipment had been placed on islands in the disputed waterway to maintain "freedom of navigation".

A Pentagon spokesman, Commander Gary Ross, declined to comment on the specifics of the AMTI report, saying it was not the Defence Department's practice to comment on intelligence.



But he said "China's continued construction in the South China Sea is part of a growing body of evidence that they continue to take unilateral actions which are increasing tensions in the region and are counterproductive to the peaceful resolution of disputes".



AMTI said China's three airbases in the Spratlys and another on Woody Island in the Paracel chain farther north would allow its military aircraft to operate over nearly the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route that Beijing claims most of. Several neighbouring states have competing claims in the sea, which is widely seen as a potential regional flashpoint.

The think-tank said advanced surveillance and early-warning radar facilities at Fiery Cross, Subi and Cuarteron reefs, as well as Woody Island, and smaller facilities elsewhere gave it similar radar coverage. It said China had installed HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles at Woody Island more than a year ago and had deployed anti-ship cruise missiles there on at least one occasion. China had also constructed hardened shelters with retractable roofs for mobile missile launchers at Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief, and enough hangars at Fiery Cross for 24 combat aircraft and three larger planes, including bombers.

US officials told Reuters last month that China had built almost two dozen structures on Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross that appeared designed to house long- range surface-to-air missiles.

In his Senate confirmation hearing in January, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson angered China by saying it should be denied access to islands it had built up in the South China Sea.

Mr Tillerson subsequently softened his language, saying that in the event of an unspecified "contingency", the US and its allies "must be capable of limiting China's access to and use of" those islands to pose a threat.

In recent years, the US has conducted a series of what it calls freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, raising tensions with Beijing.

REUTERS

damn prolly frustrated with f35 shenanigans
better make yer own stealth fighter instead

Syiok see the black hawk flyby near kl area

imo it will cost a lot more than that. 200mil too good to be true. even the lms is priced around that area.

thats usd
the lms is 200mil in myr per-piece

missed that usd. my bad

Its not The F35 its the F2W they cannot get.

Hope the PT PAL USD mil is the same level of spec offer by Damen/Destini or may be Chinese shipyard. Prefer Italian San Giogio class, mistral 140 or a mini Dokdo. LPD when in cargo carrying mode reduce the number of helipad or cancel the used of it totally. With mini LHD all cargo are to the front and the rear 2 landing pad still useful.

RMAF Nuri upgrade. Safer or Cannon fodder?



Is the Nuri really upgraded ? Is she now safer?

With the arrival of the last batch 21 units Leopard 2RI MBTs, the Indonesian Army have now received all 61 units Leopard 2RI, 42 units Leopard 2A4+ MBTs & 10 units Leopard Support Vehicle (AVLBs & ARVs). Photo credit to IPC Car Terminal.



http://defense-studies.blogspot.co.id/2017...eopard-2ri.html

This post has been edited by azriel: Mar 29 2017, 04:17 PM

not worth upgrade at all. wasting money on 40++ years old helicopter。

just ask your opinion, IF a local film company get budget to make a military film target on "Sabah Standoff story“ offcouse involved our arm personal and asset in film (pay for this cost), many local artist , do you all think gov/mindef will approval ? will film too sensitive ？

This post has been edited by waja2000: Mar 29 2017, 04:29 PM

They got no choice, people make noise of the EC725 buy which I would say a good one. There a a plan to get a second batch but now seem silence.

for what?
better make story about sauk incident
when did last time a 3-star general single-handedly ended a hostage and terrorist situation with a cqb move?

Personal, totally biased observation: glorified security guard. And I don't mean that in a derogatory manner, to me its kinda pitiful really. RELA isn't as well administrated as army or police.

So RELA members whom I encounter seems to be school dropout kids, fat retirees, or people who can't qualify for army or police so they end up joining RELA to try and gain a measure of respectability. Because for some reason some communities practically look down on "soft" jobs like office manager etc. but have overwhelming respect for army/police.

^ Probably an unpopular opinion... here...

yeap 。。。
many division need new asset just not enough budget 。。。
i hope Army get better helicopter like Chinook. NH90 or AW101 in future。 Army version helicopter usually much cheaper compare to Navy version。

This post has been edited by waja2000: Mar 29 2017, 04:41 PM

Got to clear it with Duterte first... he may not like the pinoy aspect

Its a good idea actually, IF well managed in order to increase public awareness. For example Ah Boys To Men is pure 100% 24 carat propaganda, but it seems to be well received even in Msia

but are our local film makers really up to telling the story in a subtle, sensitive and yet cinematically-entertaining manner? and more importantly, will ATM/FINAS/politikus green light the result, or meddle and demand "more positive portrayal of our Armed Forces" which eventually make the film look like pure 100% 24 carat propaganda...?

This post has been edited by KLboy92: Mar 29 2017, 04:46 PM

fact that many pipu dun know is that we didn't get all the helo in one go. the delivery of nuri is stretched to 20 years from 1968 to 1988. some of the nuri are still in its late 20s

oso, the ones that were upgraded were later batches (can see from tail number: M23-3x). Afaik the older ones were kept in storage once EC725 is in full service

This post has been edited by ayanami_tard: Mar 29 2017, 04:57 PM

well it maybe not use Sulu name ..
story mainly portrayal/show our arm personal fighting on intruder 。。。 so involve army amour,ship, jet figther 。。
ya ...need get ATM/FINAS/ and gov approval。