The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests.
Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system.
“By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send a powerful signal to US allies and partners in the region that the US advanced technologies may not be able to stand up to the PLA,” said Michael Dahm, a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Photo: AP
Similar counter-stealth radars, known as SIAR, or synthetic impulse and aperture radar, have been built to the south, on Subi Reef (渚碧礁) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), and China’s Hainan Island, to the north.
The construction on Triton would close a gap in its coverage. “Triton Island is another brick in the wall,” Dahm said.
Triton, a reef of about 120 hectares, lies in the farthest southwest corner of the Paracels, an archipelago controlled by China since a violent conflict with Vietnam in 1974. It is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.
Any construction on Triton — which is 135 nautical miles (250km) east of Vietnam’s mainland, and 170 nautical miles south of China’s Hainan — is likely to be of concern to Hanoi.
The structures on Triton would “significantly diminish [Vietnam’s] capacity to operate undetected in the area,” the analysis said.
“Alongside existing radar on Triton which can detect sea-going vessels, Beijing now has the potential to track Vietnamese air movements and gain forewarning of Hanoi’s maneuvers in the area, including efforts to access oil and gas deposits,” it said.
The radar might also complicate attempts by the US, the UK and Australian navies to navigate in the surrounding waters, it added.
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