China has deployed supersonic fighter jets to the contested Woody island in the South China Sea, a satellite image has revealed.
The photo, taken by Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) on Wednesday, shows four J-10 warplanes parked on the Chinese-controlled island in the Paracel Islands.
This is the first time since 2017 that fighter jets have been deployed to Woody Island, analysts told MailOnline, adding that the obvious placement of the planes is China’s show of military might intended to boost its territorial claims in the disputed waters ahead of the G20 summit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump at the summit in Japan next week, with talks aimed at ending an ongoing dispute over trade and technology.
The photo, taken by Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) on Wednesday, shows four J-10 fighter jets parked on the Chinese-controlled Woody Island in the Paracel Islands
Woody Island, located 220 miles south-east from China’s tropical Hainan, is home to the country’s largest base in the island chain, which are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. It is known as Yongxing Island in Chinese.
‘The canard design and delta wing configuration of the aircraft as seen from the top clearly show that they are J-10 fighters, a mainstay of the Chinese air force,’ Ben Ho, an airpower analyst with the Military Studies Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told MailOnline.
‘Four of them can be seen in the satellite photos, and there could be more in the hangars,’ he said.
‘Deploying the J-10s to Woody Island at this time and in being so placed as to be particularly obvious to photographic satellites passing overhead suggests China wants them to be noticed,’ said Peter Layton, a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and a former Royal Australian Air Force officer.
This is the first time since 2017 that fighter jets have been deployed to Woody Island, analysts told MailOnline, adding that the obvious placement of the planes is China’s show of military might intended to boost its territorial claims in the disputed waters ahead of the G20 summit
The J-10 jets, which are lightweight warplanes, have a combat range of about 500 miles (740 kilometers), putting much of the area and vital shipping lands within reach, according to CNN. Above, a J-10B fighter jet of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force takes part in a training session before an airshow in November, 2018 in Zhuhai, Guangdong province
‘The inference is that China has in place capabilities that could police an ADIZ (air defense identification zone) if one was declared in that part of the South China Sea,’ he told MailOnline.
Beijing announced in 2016 that it has the right to declare an ADIZ over the South China Sea which would require aircraft flying over the waters to first notify Beijing. It set up an ADIZ over the East China Sea in 2013.
Layton added that Beijing might be trying to remind South-East Asian participants and America that it has become the dominant power in the South China Sea.
While suggesting that it could be merely a routine deployment, Ho said analysts would have a clearer picture of whether China is militarising the island should the fighters continue to stay on the island or if their numbers increase.
‘No external fuel tanks were seen on the aircraft, ‘ Ho said. ‘This could mean that the plan is for them to stay on the island longer than usual.’
‘However, given that Hainan is well within the operating range of the J-10, it could also mean that the plan is for China to conduct missions of shorter range and/or duration,’ he added.
China announced in 2016 that it has the right to declare an ADIZ over the South China Sea, which would require aircraft flying over the waters to first notify Beijing. It set up an ADIZ over the East China Sea in 2013. Above, an image of Woody Island in April 2016
The J-10 jets, which are lightweight warplanes, have a combat range of about 500 miles (740 kilometers), putting much of the area and vital shipping lands within reach, according to CNN which first published the image.
Beijing claims most of the resource-rich sea, through which US$5 trillion in shipping trade passes annually, with competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
In May last year, the Chinese air force landed H-6K long-range bombers on Woody Island for the first time during an exercise, raising alarm in the region.
The air force said in a statement that the exercise had elevated its abilities of ‘reaching its full territory, assaulting in full time and space, and striking in full scope’.
Chinese military expert Wang Minliang was quoted as saying the bombers’ training mission was necessary ‘to enhance the real combat ability against all kinds of security threats in the sea’.
In 2017, Global Times reported that J-11 warplanes were deployed to Woody Island for the first time, with the thermostabilised hangars able to boost the jets’ durability and resistance to the island’s humidity and high temperatures.