new china base: Fiery cross reef (Pinyin Yǒngshǔ Jiāo)

[Rongor]

Probably you can, but the concept of creating exports features positioning accuracy as a major advantage. The move-it-to-position-at-sea workaround fails to deliver this part.

[thewood1]

how does it fail?

[mikmykWS]

For now just move the facilities on to land where you can find it. If it's .0000001 off nobody cares.Most are a dozen facilities at most so easy to update once we get around to updating land data. Keep in mind most major mapping data sets haven't done this yet either.

Thanks

Mike

[Araner]

Keep in mind most major mapping data sets haven't done this yet either.

Fair enough... I can indeed confirm this to be the case as I've been trying to find updated imagery to use as a reference via custom overlay. All that said... Most of the major mapping companies don't exclusively specialize in the field of "Modern Air/Naval Operations", for which the South China Sea is a major potential flashpoint. So I don't think I'm the only one who would like to see how the script would play out with the new island structures...

In any case, much remains to be known about what the new bases will actually be used for. The airfields on Subi Reef and Fiery Cross are easy enough to imagine, but the true purpose of the five smaller bases is still somewhat unclear. Its probably safe to assume that they aren't building luxury resorts like Malaysia did with Swallow Reef, and the PLA admitted a primarily military function alongside "environmental research" and "weather monitoring".

The most recent images show the structures following a uniform configuration-



Thus far, the only confirmed weaponry has been a self-propelled howitzer but the presence of multiple hexagonal towers on all of the smaller islands suggest they will be housing radar, ELINT, COMINT, AAA, SAMs etc... Furthermore, the presence of concrete ramps leading to a hidden storage area is a familiar feature of inland facilities operated by the PLA Second Artillery where they house mobile missile launchers including the so-called "carrier killer" DF-21d.

[Zaslon]

Interesting pictures. The foundation's design should be brilliant in order to maintain all the weight of these fortress without differential displacements.