PLAAF forward operations bases ?

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
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Besides being difficult sometimes to find out the latest news on regular units, is there anything known on the PLAAF's forward operation bases similar to Lhasa, which is used for temporary detachments

Any help and ideas are welcome ?!

Deino
 

SinoSoldier

Colonel
There are no PLAAF FOBs.

Pakistan or Sri Lanka may offer some but I doubt the PLAAF brass is willing to dig into their pockets.
 

delft

Brigadier
There are no PLAAF FOBs.

Pakistan or Sri Lanka may offer some but I doubt the PLAAF brass is willing to dig into their pockets.
This must be outside the authority of the PLAAF brass. Establishing the smallest PLAAF base outside China will have to be done according to the decisions of the Ministry of Foreign affairs and the Central Military Commission.
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
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Maybe my post was misleading, but I did not mean a base outside China in a foreign country, but simply a base closer forward to the operational region or zone.

If You look what MR is responsible for any possible operational theater - for example close to India, Russia ... - then there is no true current operational base very close enough to the borders.

I know in most cases, there won't be military confrontation - but speaking of the unlikely - I can't think that these operations will only be flown off their home bases.
Take the crisis around Myanmar earlier this year as an example: As far as i know the J-7 and J-11 were relocated from their home bases (44th and 33rd Divisions) closer to the border.

Or am I wrong ?

Deino
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Maybe my post was misleading, but I did not mean a base outside China in a foreign country, but simply a base closer forward to the operational region or zone.

If You look what MR is responsible for any possible operational theater - for example close to India, Russia ... - then there is no true current operational base very close enough to the borders.

I know in most cases, there won't be military confrontation - but speaking of the unlikely - I can't think that these operations will only be flown off their home bases.
Take the crisis around Myanmar earlier this year as an example: As far as i know the J-7 and J-11 were relocated from their home bases (44th and 33rd Divisions) closer to the border.

Or am I wrong ?

Deino

I think for one-off, limited threat events, the PLAAF would forward deploy to whatever the closest available airport may be. That could be a regional civilian airport and/or decommissioned former PLAAF air bases not currently actively in use, but I think those sites are not very common.

I think the most common occurrence would be to park a small, quick-alert unit of 2-4 armed and fuelled fighters at the closest civilian airport.

The PLAAF's airbase locations were largely chosen when the PLAAF was expecting to be fighting a full scale defensive war against an invading foreign power with technological and/or numerical superiority in the air.

Thus the location of major PLAAF air bases were chosen to maximise their defensibility and placed a fair distance from the boarders, so they won't be taken by enemy ground forces in the opening acts of any war.

In recent years, the PLAAF has largely kept their bases where they were for a combination of reasons, including history, economics/social (air bases are massive and would need a lot of land, thus relocating them would displace a great many people, especially anywhere along the already crowded coastal regions, where land prices are also very high), security (more to do with surveillance and spying concerns rather than a crippling enemy first strike ) etc.

By and large, I think the PLAAF is not expecting to be fighting any major wars in its near abroad, so see little point in establishing FOBs within China (with Taiwan being the obvious exception, although there are only a handful of fairly small FOBs facing Taiwan).

It is also aware of the likely negative diplomatic impacts of such a move, so I would expect them to stick with its current practice of using civilian airports for temporary emergencies. But obviously, that would change if there was a major deterioration of relations, and/or a significant developed within a neighbouring country to warrant a more permanent forward development of PLAAF assets.

The PLA is looking much further aboard when considering the possible need for power projection and expeditionary ops, which is why it is developing a carrier fleet and setting up foreign bases.
 

pendragon

Junior Member
As part of the Chinese external policy there are no unneccesary military facilities in the border regions.
a. as to not upset the neighbours and start al local arms race
b. as to not intervene with peacful and profitable international trade
c. as to nor intervene with the image the PRC is opholding of itself as being a peaceful nation
d. and because such installations, from a military point of view would be more vulnerable to sabotage or sudden (surprise) attack by an oponent.

So the PRC sticks to more 'internally' placed units" (PLA divisions and PLAAF regiments) that occasionally hold exercises in the border regions, just to remind the neighbours that, whilst they are not actually there, they can be there in just a matter of hours!
 

kriss

Junior Member
Registered Member
The closest thing would be the island bases in SCS once they are operational (and have fighters deployed). Besides that as wolf said PLAAF is in a war of defense mindset thus many of PLAAF aircrafts are spread all over the country in a term of like an air base for every regiment (24 aircrafts) which are located in less populated area. And there are bigger bases which have more defense responsibility like ones set up the capital air defense circle and guard other major cities (as a reslut of urbanization many of them are already inside the city) which of many are coastal a.k.a as forward as they could be and that include the entire south east border (coast line). In the west, considered how underpopulated it is and the lack of HVT and the sheer size of the area make it not so attractive to deploy air assets forward. For boarders with russia, I don't know how's it like during the high tension of sino-soviet split but for today either side would want to deploy anything that close to provoke a "friend". As for south west boarder, I really don't know much about that area so I will leave that to other more knowledgeable members.
 

Deino

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Hi guys ... sorry that I missed an update: With a lot of help from some guys over there at the CDF a few were identified:


Macuoping - ?
Hetian - ?
Rigaze - ?
Dali - ?
Lhasa - 29°17'53"N 090°54'44"E
Liancheng - 25°40'35"N 116°44'46"E
Xiapu - 26°56'30"N 120°04'39"E
Zhangzhou - 28°01'25"N 115°33'00"E (but regular 14. FD/42. AR) ?
Xingning - 24°08'53.5"N 115°45'33.7"E
Hailar - 49°09'51"N 119°41'37"E
Longtian - 25°34'22"N 119°27'41"E (not only for J-6 UAVs)
Luocheng/Huian - 25°01'35"N 118°48'26"E
Jinjiang - 24°47'50.2"N 118°35'22.7"E (seems to be used only for Q-5 training)
Hotan - 37° 2'15.32"N 79°51'48.63"E
Hui'an : only for 10LHT?


Deino
 

danielchin

Junior Member
I think Macuoping is same as Xiapu, Hetian same as Hotan.
Rigaze - 29°21’8.30”N 89°18’55.89”E (?)
Dali - 25°38’52.37”N 100°19’14.50"E (?)
 
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