Aside from missile systems, China has deployed military aircraft and more than a dozen warships on what appears to be a rotation basis on their man-made islands in the Philippines's Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the disputed Spratly archipelago. Satellite imagery monitoring over the disputed region released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) showed that a Shaani Y-8 military transport aircraft has been deployed at China’s naval and air bases on Zamora (Subi) Reef. “With this deployment, the military aircraft has now verifiably landed on all three of China’s airstrips in the Spratly Islands,” the AMTI reported.

Laude, J. (2018, May 11). China deploys military aircraft, 15 warships in Spratlys. The Philippine Star, p. 12.