Posted on 04/09/2018 12:11:34 PM PDT by Enlightened1
China has installed equipment on two of its fortified outposts in the Spratly Islands capable of jamming communications and radar systems, a significant step in its creeping militarization of the South China Sea, U.S. officials say.
The move strengthens China’s ability to assert its extensive territorial claims and hinder U.S. military operations in a contested region that includes some of the world’s busiest shipping routes.
The disclosure comes as the Chinese military is conducting what U.S. officials describe as its largest military exercise to date in the South China Sea, maneuvers that include China’s first aircraft carrier as well as air force and ground units.
A U.S. Defense Department official, describing the finding, said: “China has deployed military jamming equipment to its Spratly Island outposts.”
The U.S. assessment is supported by a photo taken last month by the commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe and provided to The Wall Street Journal. It shows a suspected jammer system with its antenna extended on Mischief Reef, one of seven Spratly outcrops where China has built fortified artificial islands since 2014, moving sand onto rocks and reefs and paving them over with concrete.
China’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Jammer = bullet magnet.
A jamming system on a modern battlefield is the same as firing up a searchlight on a dark night. Won’t last for very long. Same for RADAR jammers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-radiation_missile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-88_HARM
Egggszactly
I’m rooting for an extreme Cat 5 typhoon to stall over the Spratleys for a couple of days.
Pirate radio station WONG?
How is that Island still afloat with all that junk
-—The move strengthens China’s ability to assert its extensive territorial claims and hinder U.S. military operations in a contested region that includes some of the world’s busiest shipping routes.-—
Busiest shipping routes, eh? Should an extended military conflict ensue, who stands to lose the most - China (incl HK), USA, or Japan? How about emerging economies in SE ASia?
The Chinese floated everything on Junks for centuries...
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The irony is deep in this article. So, the South China Sea was not "militarized" when the U.S. Seventh Fleet sailed unchallenged, but the PRC's installation of defensive weapons systems in its southern lake constitutes "creeping militarization." Just imagine the shoe on the other foot, with PLAN's East Sea Fleet projecting a permanent offensive naval force in the Gulf of Mexico... It would be laughable if China protested our countering defensive systems as "creeping militarization" of the Gulf of Mexico.
maybe you should look at a map and see how close to The Philippines these outposts are relative to the Chinese mainland.
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