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BUILDING FOR WAR

Damning new satellite images show China has built aircraft hangars on South China Sea islands for fleet of fighter jets

The reinforced buildings are designed to withstand an airstrike and can hold up to 24 fighters jets each

CHINA has vastly extended its military scope by constructing military jet hangars on a set of contested islands, damning new images reveal.

Their confirmed presence in the South China Sea quashes China's repeated claims it was never planning to militarise the region.

A satellite image of Fiery Cross reef shows the landing strip sprinkled with hangars
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A satellite image of Fiery Cross reef shows the landing strip sprinkled with hangars and a control towerCredit: CSIS / AMTI
A closer image shows the size of the hangars, with jets added to illustrate it
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A closer image shows the hangars as they would look when filled with China's fighter jetsCredit: CSIS / AMTI
Nearby Mischief Reef also has a runway lined with military-grade aircraft hangars
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Nearby Mischief Reef also has a runway lined with military-grade aircraft hangarsCredit: CSIS / AMTI
The hangars - seen here with illustrated jets - are designed to withstand an air strike
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The hangars are reinforced and designed to withstand an air strike, experts sayCredit: CSIS / AMTI
Each island has enough hangars to hold 24 fighter jets and several larger bombers or transport carriers
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Each island has enough hangars to hold 24 fighter jets and several larger bombers or transport carriersCredit: CSIS / AMTI

The photographs show development undertaken on the Spratly Islands, a strategically vital area where China has built its own artificial islands on reefs.

Most believe it is a move designed to project military power across the region and undermine U.S. dominance.

According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, reinforced aircraft hangars are now visible on three of these reefs.

Each of these hangars will have enough room to accommodate 24 fighter jets as well as larger planes, such as bomb carriers, transports and refuelers.

The construction has occurred on Subi Reef, Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef - all part of the disputed territories.

The transparency initiative's director, George B. Poling, told The New York Times the structures were large enough to accommodate China's fleet.

To use them to house civilian planes would be akin to building a mansion and only living in the first floor, he said.

Subi Reef was also constructed in a crescent shape, and features a runway on its longest straight
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Subi Reef was also constructed in a crescent shape, and features a runway on its longest straightCredit: CSIS / AMTI
Four larger planes and a handful of fighter jets are shown where they would sit on the island
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Four larger planes and a handful of fighter jets are shown where they would sit on the islandCredit: CSIS / AMTI

"They are far thicker than you would build for any civilian purpose. They’re reinforced to take a strike."

The images are also released just days after China sent bombers and fighter jets on combat patrols in the area.

Raising tensions with its neighbours and the U.S. even higher, China claimed the exercise was designed to normalise such drills.

The Hague ruled last month that China did not have historic rights to the region. Its leaders, however, simply ignored the directive.


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