PLAN SCS Bases/Islands/Vessels (Not a Strategy Page)

Geographer

Geographer

Junior Member
I don't see any fuel storage tanks on the island but they could easily be constructed. There is plenty of room. The whole island is surrounded by a reef so the whole runway and island could be expanded through land reclamation. Taiping Island is a significant base for Taiwan in the South China Sea. It's the largest of the Spratly Islands, has a full length paved runway, its own water source, and enough land and surrounding reef capable of supporting a large outpost.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
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People's Daily Online said:
The PLAN has been patrolling the Xisha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea on an ongoing training mission over the last week.

Warships and helicopters of the People's Liberation Army navy patrolled reefs off the Nansha Islands, which are comprised of more than 500 islets, shoals and reefs, and surrounding waters, from Thursday to Saturday.

Ships from the PLA navy's South Sea Fleet, including the amphibian landing craft Changbaishan, LPD-989, and the missile destroyers Haikou, DDG-171, and Wuhan, DDG-169, set sail from ports in Guangdong and Hainan provinces on Monday.

The group conducted patrols off the Xisha Islands, including Yongxing, Dongdao, Chenhang and Zhongjian, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Marines, backed up by helicopters, on board the Changbaishan conducted landing drills and counter-landing defense measures with garrisons stationed on the islands.

The missile destroyers Haikou and Wuhan also conducted anti-submarine operations.

The ships will continue to sail south and practice tactical maneuvers in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
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J

joshuatree

Captain
Geographer said:
I don't see any fuel storage tanks on the island but they could easily be constructed. There is plenty of room. The whole island is surrounded by a reef so the whole runway and island could be expanded through land reclamation. Taiping Island is a significant base for Taiwan in the South China Sea. It's the largest of the Spratly Islands, has a full length paved runway, its own water source, and enough land and surrounding reef capable of supporting a large outpost.
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There's a lot of potential Taiwan could do with Taiping if it wanted to. It could easily install a powerful radar there to extend its eyes and ears.
 
P

pendragon

Junior Member
joshuatree said:
As Blackstone already mentioned. I like to point out if China can maintain one on Subi Reef which is much smaller, Taiping should be a lot easier.
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I do not believe PRC will construct any major military facility in the Spratly's in the foreseeable future.
They now have a credible modern surface- and airpower over their contestants for that area. And support to the Garrisons can be provided by patrolling navy-squadron.

Rising the military tension would just give western nations an alibi to install economic sanctions that would hamper economic and military growth of the nation. The west is just waiting for this to happen since they only believe in I-trade (as in I=myself) and not in free trade.

However in the longer term, the PRC wil have to construct some form of local HQ with support facilities for the smaller garrisons; to assist in this an airstrip is a necessity (since provioning by sea wil be to time and cost consuming in the longer term); even with a peaceful settlement, a military/police presence will still be necessary to safeguard not just the islands and reefs but also the fishinggrounds.
 
J

joshuatree

Captain
pendragon said:
However in the longer term, the PRC wil have to construct some form of local HQ with support facilities for the smaller garrisons; to assist in this an airstrip is a necessity (since provioning by sea wil be to time and cost consuming in the longer term); even with a peaceful settlement, a military/police presence will still be necessary to safeguard not just the islands and reefs but also the fishinggrounds.
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Which location in your opinion should be the local HQ? While provisioning by sea may be longer when looking at a single vessel's trip vs a plane, it will always be less cost by sea. You can also move much more goods. Qiongsha 3 is an example of regularly scheduled replenishment service. You can increase frequency if you simply have more freighters plying the route.

I don't see any of the possessions in the Spratlys being able to field an airstrip capable of larger cargo planes without extensive land reclamation and there is still the need for support facilities such as fuel storage if you want to maximize a cargo plane's capacity for hauling.
 
A

A.Man

Major
A Massive Construction By China on Chigua Reef (Johnson South Reef) South China Sea

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She Keeps An Eye Open

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A Vietnamese Out Post Is So Close

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pendragon

Junior Member
Looks like some serious construction is going on;
much more than just an extension or modernisation of the existing outpost.

Perhaps adding a helo-landing platform and/or a small pier for more easy and confortable loading?

Has there been any official information released about this construction?
I would think both the Pino's and the Viets aren't to happy about this.
 
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