China built new runway on Ladakh border, India’s tension increased – News India Live
China is continuously emphasizing on strengthening its infrastructure on the Indian border. Amidst the ongoing tension in Ladakh, China has built a new runway at Hotan Air Base, which has also been made operational. It is believed that China will use this runway for military activities, because the old runway was used for civil service and military activities. The length of the new runway built at Hotan Air Base is 3700 meters. Open source analyst Damien Simon has released satellite photos of the runway.
This new runway was put into operation after four years
In fact, in 2020, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan violence, America had released satellite photos and reported the death of about 40 Chinese soldiers. It was only after this conflict that China started construction of a new runway at Hotan Airbase. This new runway has become operational after about four years. This airbase of China is very close to India. After the construction of the new runway, two runways are now operational at Hotan Air Base.
China’s new runway is 3700 meters long
China’s new runway at Hotan airbase is 3700 meters long, while the old runway was 3200 meters long. It is believed that the new runway will be used only for military use. At the same time, due to the longer length of the runway, China can land small fighter planes as well as large military planes on it, which will greatly strengthen the Chinese army on the Indian border. China has already deployed many fighter aircraft and defense systems at Hotan Airbase. The distance from Leh to Hotan airbase is 382 km, it is a dual-purpose airbase of China. China also uses it for civil service. China has also built buildings for the army near Hotan Airbase.
Hotan is China’s largest airbase
Hotan is China’s largest airbase near the Indian border. China has already deployed fighter aircraft, early warning AWACS aircraft and air defense units at this airbase. China has deployed J-20 fighter jets, Shenyang J-8 interceptor aircraft, Shaanxi Y-8G and KJ-500 AWACS systems at Hotan airbase. In such a situation, Chinese fighter planes can easily take off from Hotan Airbase and conduct aerial patrolling around the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
