China Upgrades Djibouti Naval Base as an Intelligence Site
China has recently enhanced the signals communication array at its base for the People’s Liberation Army (Navy) in Djibouti. An in-depth report produced by CSIS (the Center for Strategic and International Studies, based in Washington, D.C.) described the enhancements made at the base.
The PLAN’s Overseas Support Base at Doraleh in Djibouti is the only acknowledged Chinese external base, but was supposed to be the first of several such bases to be constructed worldwide under the classified Project 141. Ream in Cambodia was the second such base to come into use, but its status, along with that of a Chinese facility at Hambantota in Sri Lanka, has since appeared more akin to a facility for use by visiting ships. Plans for a base in Abu Dhabi’s KIZAD port look likely to have been scrapped under pressure from the United States. The PLAN now appears to have scaled back its plans for further Project 141 sites, preferring instead to utilize commercial facilities operated overseas by the likes of COSCO.
The improvements to communications facilities at the base in Doraleh described in the CSIS report cover aerials and satellite dishes across the full electromagnetic spectrum, from High Frequency, Very/Ultra High Frequency, SATCOM and 5G. CSIS cannot be sure whether these aerials are for transmission or reception. However, it seems likely that these new arrays are for passive interception, as the PLAN would not have been operating Naval Escort Groups in the area without adequate secure communications since 2008, and the full-spectrum frequency profile of the new aerial farm is more akin to that needed for a signals collection site.
From Doraleh, the PLAN could have an interest in covering the activity of the many other foreign naval bases in Djibouti, but it will also want to keep abreast of ongoing conflicts in Yemen, Sudan and Somalia. The PLAN will have a particular interest in the substantial US Navy presence in the Arabian Sea, and in monitoring merchant traffic in the Red Sea. Militaries in this region tend to rely on rudimentary long-distance HF communications, interception of which from Doraleh is practical, but as an interception site Doraleh perhaps lacks the height to intercept VHF communications at longer ranges.
China has well-established means for sharing timely and high-resolution satellite imagery with Iran and, hence, through IRGC liaison officers, forward to the Houthis in Yemen. If this is the case, similar channels could be used to pass signals intelligence as well.
The PLAN maintains a three-ship flotilla in Djibouti, which rotates about every 10 months, the ships coming from the North, East, and South Sea Fleet in turn. The 48th Naval Escort Group, consisting of the Type 052DL guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (F122), Type 054A guided-missile frigate Daqing (F576) and Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu (K889), completed its tour of duty on September 5, and is now on its way home. If it follows in the wake of its predecessors, it will undertake a number of exercises and port visits en route – albeit not this time with the Iranian Navy, as it no longer exists. The flotilla is currently in Chattogram Port for a five-day goodwill visit to Bangladesh, scheduled to conclude on September 21.
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Although Chinese press releases broadcast that the rotating deployment to Djibouti is “in line with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” PLAN Naval Escort Group vessels rarely assist non-Chinese merchant ships. Contrary to UNCLOS, they have sometimes stood off when ships of other flags have been attacked or are in distress.
The 49th Naval Escort Group is now on station in Djibouti, found from the South Seas Fleet, having set off from Sanya on August 12. The group consists of the Type 052DL guided-missile destroyer Kunming (F172), Type 054A guided-missile frigate Yueyang (F575), and Type 903A replenishment ship Luomahu (K907). Normally, the Escort Groups, when on patrol, have on board a strong commando force able to deploy using shipborne helicopters in readiness for anti-piracy operations.
