As summer approaches, China is swiftly deploying new radar installations at the Pangta and Bamda airfields in the eastern region, directly facing North-east India. Notably, Pangta lies within a mere 200 kilometres from the Line of Actual Control.
More recently, at the Hotan airfield, in Xinjiang, where there is a substantial presence of the PLAAF, three Y-20 aircraft, a large plane for military transportation, were seen. Besides, Hotan has, as usual, a large number of fighters– about 50. About half of them are the J-11, the twin engined air superiority fighter similar to the Russian Sukhoi-27 and about two decades old, and the J-7, which is an older aircraft, similar to the Russian MiG-21. Besides, a few JH-7As, a fighter bomber, are present along with a KJ-500, an airborne early warning system.
Similarly, on the eastern side, at Luliang, in Yunnan, the Chinese have placed a KJ-500 along with a dozen J-11 fighters and two Y-20 heavy-lift transport aircraft. Once again, these are signs that the Chinese are strengthening their armed forces.