"Construction of 3,000-Meter-Class Runway on Artificial Island in South China Sea Spotted"

Could Handle Fighter Jets, Large Transport Aircraft, Bombers, and More

China is building a runway on an artificial island reclaimed from a reef in the Paracel Islands, a disputed area in the South China Sea, that will be capable of handling takeoffs and landings by bombers and transport aircraft.

A satellite image of Antelope Reef in the South China Sea, taken on the 25th of last month (local time). Reuters-Yonhap News

According to Yonhap News Agency on October 25, the Asahi Shimbun reported, citing an analysis of satellite images by DeepDive, a private intelligence-gathering and analysis firm, that construction was underway on what appears to be a 3,000-meter-class runway capable of handling large aircraft on an artificial island China is creating by reclaiming Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands, known as the Xisha Islands in China, in the South China Sea.

Antelope Reef was a small atoll in the southwestern part of the Paracel Islands, which China has controlled since the 1970s, but China has been rapidly reclaiming it since late last year.

DeepDive said that images taken last month showed a structure resembling a runway in the northern part of the atoll, as well as nearby land that appeared to have been leveled for an aircraft parking apron.

DeepDive analyzed that the structure resembling a runway would be 2,700 meters long when completed and could extend to 3,000 meters when the overrun area, a safety buffer to prevent aircraft from overrunning the runway, is included.

At that scale, the facility is expected to be capable of handling not only fighter jets but also large aircraft, including transport planes, aerial refueling tankers, bombers, and early-warning aircraft.

China already operates fighter jets from a runway approximately 2,700 meters long on Woody Island, located about 90 kilometers from Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.