Satellite images show Chinese fighter jets deployed to base in Tibet

May 24, 2013 China, Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

The following Google Earth screenshots were taken by The Aviationist reader Nicolae Sinu.

They show the airfield in Tibet where five Chinese J-11 fighter jets (indigenous Su-27 Flankers) appear to be based.

The base is a part of Chinese strategy of widening China’s power in the Indian region and it is considered to be a response to the Indian air bases of Chabua and Tezpur in Assam region.

Image credit: Google Earth

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

Anon says:

May 24, 2013 at 6:26 PM

May be typical rotation, as observed:

http://osimint.com/2013/05/21/china-deploys-su-27-fighters-to-tibet/
Altacali says:

May 25, 2013 at 10:55 PM

” it is considered to be a response to the Indian air bases of Chabua and Tezpur in Assam region.”

Unfortunately some retards will see this as evidence of China being “Nazis”.
Lawrence D. Wood says:

June 11, 2013 at 1:49 AM

Five is hardly a ‘show of force’.