China Is Strengthening A Key Navy Base In The South China Sea For Its Aircraft Carriers

Research into the ongoing militarization of the #SouthChinaSea uncovers new evidence suggesting #China could permanently deploy an Aircraft Carrier to the region overcoming operational & maintenance time lags pic.twitter.com/w9jemza70J

— d-atis☠️ (@detresfa_) August 26, 2020

Forbes: China Strengthens Key Navy Base In South China Sea For Aircraft Carriers

New intelligence suggests that China will soon have its aircraft carriers permanently based in the South China Sea. The Chinese Navy, known as the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy), is strengthening a strategic base on Hainan. A gigantic dry dock is being built, big enough for an aircraft carrier. Together with a pier already visited by the carriers, this suggests that they will be stationed there. Currently the carriers spend a lot of their time further north.

Dry docks are important for maintaining warships in fighting condition. But aircraft carriers need special facilities to handle their size. The new one being built on Hainan is almost the perfect size for China’s carriers. It is much larger than would be expected for destroyers or submarines, and is inside a protected harbor. All of this points towards the aircraft carrier hypothesis.

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WNU Editor: China wants to have 4 - 6 operational aircraft carriers in the next few years. You need to house these aircraft carriers somewhere for maintenance, so why not build a dry-dock near the South China Sea.