China Opens Joint Military Training Facility in Laos
China established a joint military support and training center at Ban Keun Airport in Laos to train Lao Air Force pilots.
The Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China has opened a joint military support and training facility at Ban Keun Airport, located approximately 50 kilometers north of Vientiane, Laos. The installation comprises the China-Laos Joint Support and Training Center and the China-Laos Friendship Aviation Academy, which will be jointly operated by both nations to train Lao Air Force pilots.
Satellite imagery of the site shows eight K-8 light attack jets and more than two dozen support vehicles on a runway currently under construction. The facility is located at the site of the former Lima Site 44, a covert airfield operated by the CIA-owned Air America during the Vietnam War.
While the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China stated the center is "not directed against any third party," security analysts suggest the site could function as China's first fully fledged overseas military base in Southeast Asia and a logistics hub for the People's Liberation Army.
