Huairen Air Base named after the nearby city, is a People's Liberation Army Air Force

People's Liberation Army Air Force

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...

 (PLA-AF) installation near the Fen River

Fen River

The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It rises in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turning west to join the Yellow River west of Hejin. The Fen and...

, 43 km (26.7 mi) south of the city of Datong

Datong

Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province of North China, located a few hundred kilometres west by rail from Beijing with an elevation of...

, in the northern part of China's

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

 province. It is located in the PLA

People's Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...

 Beijing Military Region.

It is the headquarters of the PLA-AF 15th Fighter Division

PLA-AF 15th Fighter Division

The 15th Fighter Division is a unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force. It is headquartered at Huairen Air Base in the Beijing Military Region. The unit is equipped with J-7 fighters and Q-5 ground attack aircraft...

 which operates Chengdu J-7

Chengdu J-7

The Chengdu Jian-7 is a People's Republic of China-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Though production ceased in 2008 it continues to serve, mostly as an interceptor, in several air forces, including China's.-Design and development:...

 fighters and Nanchang Q-5

Nanchang Q-5

The Nanchang Q-5 , also known as the A-5 in its export versions, is a Chinese-built jet ground-attack aircraft based on the Soviet MiG-19. Its main role is close air support.-Design and development:...

 ground attack aircraft.

Satellite imagery of the site shows a single 10,500 foot runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 oriented NE/SW and a full length parallel taxiway

Taxiway

A taxiway is a path on an airport connecting runways with ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller airports sometimes use gravel or grass....

 connected to revetment

Revetment

Revetments, or revêtements , have a variety of meanings in architecture, engineering and art history. In stream restoration, river engineering or coastal management, they are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of incoming water...

s at either end of the field.

See also

• List of Airbases in the PLAAF
• List of Chinese aircraft
• People's Liberation Army Air Force
  People's Liberation Army Air Force
  The People's Liberation Army Air Force is the aviation branch of the People's Liberation Army, the military of the People's Republic of China...
  
  
• People's Liberation Army
  People's Liberation Army
  The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
  
  

External links

• PLAAF Order of Battle at Scramble Magazine - Dutch Aviation Society