The South China Sea is more than a setting for piracy novels.
The pace of island-building in China’s so-called “Blue Territories” is frenetic. Janes has reported that the island at Fiery Cross Reef is now 3,000 metres long. There are five dredges going at once to dig out the harbour and provide material for the island-building. So Fiery Cross Reef will be the site of an airfield which can enforce an ADIZ over the southern end of China’s claim to the South China Sea....
...The radars will provide early warning of cruise missiles and stealth aircraft. The Chinese would have tested the utility of this radar type on Subi Reef. No doubt each of the islands being built will have them as well, along with HQ-9 medium to long range surface-to-air missiles as well as point defence surface-to-air missiles. The HQ-9 has a range of 200 km.
That explains the choice of reefs being converted to islands. China is building a defensive box around the new airfield at Fiery Cross Reef ...
...The Chinese plan to scrape the Filipinos, the Vietnamese and the Malaysians off their bases in the South China Sea. For a dark future to be avoided, the Chinese will have to be scraped off their artificial islands instead. It would be a good idea to start building the war stocks to achieve that and not waste cruise missiles and JDAMs on fighting ISIS. Another good idea would be to inspect and upgrade airfields on Palawan Island in the Philippines, 400 km east of the future war zone. The strip at Bugsuk Island, at the southern end of Palawan, will be particularly useful (if it is sealed)....
Unfortunately for US allies, SCOAMF occupies the chair of C-in-C and directs the activities of John F'n Kerry, Vietnam veteran and all-around complete doofus.
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