Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

An article in the January 2014 edition of the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review queries if the PLA Air Force along with the Second Artillery Corps could completely paralyze the military airport located in the west of Taiwan and what kind of damage would be sustained by these military facilities.

It is clear from tests carried out in China's Dingxin experimental air base in northern Gansu's Jiuquan and its Korla air base located in Xinjiang's Bayin'guoleng Mongol autonomous prefecture that the amount of damage that the air force and the Second Artillery Corps can inflict is increasing and that their objective has shifted from its traditional target, Taiwan, to Japan and US military bases in Japan. Attacking US and Taiwanese military air bases is one of the main training objectives of the PLA Air Force and Second Artillery Corps, according to China's Global Times.

The attack range of the PLA Air Force has expanded in recent years. During live-fire military exercises at Dingxin air base in autumn of this year, the air force deployed 170 third-generation fighters and 17 air force brigades. The top five pilots were selected from the air force. In December 2013, there were 15 Shenyang J-11 fighters, three Xian H-6 strategic bombers, seven Xian JH-7 fighter bombers, seven J-8II interceptor fighters and several Chengdu J-7 interceptors deployed at Dingxin air base for joint military exercises. Taiwan's Taichung Ching-Chuan-Kang Airport was within range of the multirole aircraft taking part in the exercises, particularly the ground-attack aircraft which make up 50% of China's military aircraft.

The PLA Air Force is also equipped with several Russian-made KH series anti-ship missile and precision guided bombs, all of which use electro-optical or laser guided systems, with a five meter margin of error. Similar Russian-made bombs and missiles have a highly explosive semi-armor piercing warhead. In recent years China has adopted the export version of the C-602 anti-ship missile, with an effective range of 220-300 km. The PLA also deployed land-to ship weapons systems for the exercises.

After refurbishment, the Korla base is now equipped with an aircraft apron and a US-style reinforced concrete aircraft hangar. The base stretches 8 km from its easternmost point to its western edge and 7.2 km from north to south. On its 260 m x 60 m apron there are 12 full size replicas of US F-15 fighters, clearly modeled on the US Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. Satellite pictures from May 2013 suggest that the apron and the hangar suffered a massive cluster bomb attack, leaving deep craters around them. The hangar was not completely destroyed but the roof showed signs of having been hit by an attack.

Due to their terminal-stage guidance system, the tactical missiles employed by the Second Artillery Corps have a margin of error of under 50 m. Satellite images from Sept. 17, 2012 show three craters in the apron measuring 6.9 m in diameter, suggesting the apron had once been attacked by a highly explosive armor-piercing missile. The export version of the B-611M and the M20 tactical ballistic missile both have a similar margin of error, according to promotional material.

The Second Artillery Corps' tactical missiles will likely make use of fuel-air bombs or cluster bombs to attack enemy airports in the event of a war to cause a fire, the paper said. Given the accuracy of the missiles, an attack is likely to make craters in the runway of the airport and Okinawa is certain to be one of the PLA's main targets in any potential conflict, said the paper.