Wuhu Wanli Airport () , often called Wuhu Air Base, is a Chinese
People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...
(PLAAF) air base in
Wuhu
Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma' ...
,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...
Province, China.
History
Wuhu Airbase was originally constructed in 1934 in response to
Imperial Japanese aggressions and ambitions in the mainland of China, and was a staging location for the Republic-era
Chinese Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...
to launch air strikes and combat air patrols against Japanese incursions and positions during first battles of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in Asia; the
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of the ...
,
Battle of Taiyuan
The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan was a major battle fought in 1937 between China and Japan named for Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. The battle concluded in a v ...
and the
Battle of Nanjing
The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Rep ...
.
Operations
In 2019, the base prepared for the
9th Fighter Brigade's adoption of the
Chengdu J-20
The Chengdu J-20 (), also known as ''Mighty Dragon'' (), is a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air ...
stealth fighter, constructing 26 new hangars.
Wuhu Air Base also hosts PLAAF's No. 5720 factory.
See also
*
Wuhu Xuanzhou Airport
Wuhu Xuanzhou Airport is an airport built to replace the commercial airline service of the old Wuhu Wanli Airport, and serves the cities of Wuhu and Xuancheng in Anhui Province, China. The airport is located in Wanzhi Town, Wanzhi District, ...
(nearby commercial airfield)
*
List of People's Liberation Army Air Force airbases
This is a list of air bases operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Facilities included in the list include all aerodromes at which the PLAAF operates a regular presence. These may include those exclusively for military use ...
References
Airports in Anhui
Chinese Air Force bases
Defunct airports in China
Buildings and structures in Wuhu
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