Vietnam’s Rocket Launchers May Prompt China to Declare Air Defense Zone

Aug 11, 2016 | Harry Kazianis
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It was inevitable, but nations in the South China Sea that have overlapping claims with the People’s Republic of China are now beginning to push back.  Yesterday, Reuters reported that Vietnam “has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China’s runways and military installations across the vital trade route,” citing unnamed western officials.  

The report goes on to note that Hanoi shipped the weapons from the Vietnamese mainland to five bases in the disputed Spratly Islands “in recent months.” It also explains that “the launchers have been hidden from aerial surveillance and they have yet to be armed, but could be made operational with rocket artillery rounds within two or three days,” according to multiple sources in the story.