World·China
Satellite images show attack jets at China’s new military site in Laos, Reuters reports
Satellite images taken Sept. 30 by commercial provider Vantor show what security analysts believe are eight K-8 light attack jets and more than two dozen support vehicles on a runway still under construction at the new China-Laos joint training facility at Ban Keun outside Vientiane, Reuters reported in an exclusive. Some regional military attaches and scholars say the site could become China’s first fully fledged overseas military base in Southeast Asia, and analyst Alexander Neill said the airfield appears engineered for a runway extension that would let larger aircraft operate. During the Vietnam War era, Ban Keun was “Lima Site 44,” used by the CIA-owned airline Air America, according to records a Library of Congress specialist shared with Reuters; China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond.
- Reuters (via WSAU)Exclusive-Attack aircraft, military vehicles visible at new China-Laos base, satellite images show