Satellite images show attack jets at Chinese military facility in Laos

Satellite images show attack jets stationed at a new Chinese military facility in Laos, which opened last week and gives Beijing’s air force its first foothold in mainland south-east Asia.Images provided by the commercial satellite provider Vantor show eight light attack aircraft positioned at Ban Keun airport alongside what appear to be more than a dozen military vehicles lined up in rows.The planes’ shape matches that of the Chinese-made Hongdu JL-8 jet, a two-seat trainer that can be deployed in combat to carry bombs. Laos is reported to have four such aircraft, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.In a rare example of Beijing’s overseas military expansion, China opened what it said was a joint “support and training centre” at Ban Keun on 29 September.The airport, about ⁠30 miles (50km) north of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, has been significantly expanded over the past year. Satellite images taken months ago show farmland and dirt paths where there are now new buildings and a paved runway.Aside from its island bases in the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea, Beijing does not have a significant network of military outposts in other countries, and the Laos airbase would be its first facility in another country capable of handling fighter jets.The new satellite images, taken a day after the announcement and first reported by Reuters, show extensive construction work that appears to be focused on a future runway extension, which could make the airport capable of handling larger planes such as bombers.In its announcement last week, China’s defence ministry said the new centre would “help Laos strengthen the training of its air force pilots” and was not “directed against any third party”.Construction under way at the site on 2 September. Photograph: Vantor/ReutersGovernments will be watching closely for signs of deployments or the installation of defence equipment that may serve wider military ambitions. After the announcement, the Singapore-based security analyst Collin Koh said it “may not be wrong to conclude this is the first full-fledged PLA [People’s Liberation Army] overseas base in south-east Asia”.Over the past two decades, China has built up an extensive network of outposts on islands in the disputed China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea, including airbases with air defence installations. Otherwise, its navy’s sole overseas military base is a logistics base in Djibouti, on the coast of the Horn of Africa.The Laos agreement follows a similar programme established in Cambodia, at the Ream naval base on the Gulf of Thailand, although that facility has no runway.After years of speculation and denials, China announced in April last year that it had created the “joint logistics and training” facility in Cambodia. It said the centre would support the two militaries in “conducting regional counter-terrorism, disaster prevention and mitigation, humanitarian assistance, joint training and other operations”.US forces are believed to have used Ban Keun airport in Laos during covert military operations at the height of the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 1970s. Its development will be monitored by Vietnam, which maintains disputes with China over the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea, and Thailand, which shares a border with Laos.After the announcement last week, Thailand’s defence ministry spokesperson said Bangkok considered itself a close partner of both Laos and China and saw it as Vientiane’s sovereign right to decide whether to grant permission for a Chinese base.“Nevertheless, Thailand will continue to closely monitor developments and how the matter proceeds, particularly with regard to building mutual trust,” said R Adm Surasant Kongsiri.China’s government did not mention sending aircraft to Laos in its initial announcement, while the government of Laos has not commented on the project.The US-based Institute for the Study of War has described the Laos base as the “first PLA overseas military facility focused on air power”. In its assessment, the thinktank said the base was “not yet equipped to provide the PLA with the ability to execute major combat operations, unlike US military bases”.It said the base would give the Chinese military alternate routes to access to the China-sea" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="8346" data-entity-type="location">South China Sea and strategic air routes.Reuters contributed to this report