CHINA-MILITARY: PLAN NAVY
|
The Chinese-language website of China's official Global Times, citing an article in the August issue of Kanwa Defense Review, on July 27, 2015 said the PLA Navy (PLAN) was constructing its second aircraft carrier base on Hainan island. According to the report, the base incorporates a pier which can dock large ships on both sides, suggesting that both carriers can dock at the PLA Navy's carrier bases at the same time. The new base is among the longest and widest carrier bases in the world and is 700 meters long and 120 meters wide. It said that construction on the second base began in 2011 and the building on the base was completed within four years. The new base is almost contiguous with the Yulin nuclear-powered submarine base and together they make Hainan island the PLA Navy's largest multirole base. Construction of the docks started in October 2012. On a nearby hillside are three blue radomes of the type that the PLA General Staff Department's Third Department (responsible for science, technology and intelligence) usually uses for its signal monitoring stations. However, Kanwa says the radomes could also be navigation radars or surveillance radars. There are another two large blue radomes located approx. 8000 m from the carrier berths. Hainan is an important base for the Third Department to collect intelligence on Vietnam.
In 2012, construction also started on supply facilities, including two other berths and land-based facilities and what appears like an artificial cavern being dug out. Such caverns are used by the PLA Navy to store ammunition and fuel. By November 2013, construction on the carrier berths was completed and China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, docked at the port after completing a trial mission in the South China Sea, along with a supply ship. Construction of the third and fourth berths began in 2012. Kanwa predicted that an anti-aircraft network will also be established in the region, with an array of ground-to-air missiles, to ensure the safety of the carrier and submarine
(Comment: Kanwa Magazine stated that the positioning of the second carrier base, next to the Yulin nuclear-powered submarine base and near a fishing village, was quite odd. It means that the village will have to be moved, or that the fishermen will need to pass through the carrier base to get out to sea. Currently the fishermen access the sea through the Yulin submarine base, passing within 100 m of China's Kilo class submarines. This means that tourists could potentially observe the movements of carriers and submarines by boarding a fishing vessel.)
|