China Installs Advanced Anti-Stealth Radar On Strategic South China Sea Island

China has taken a significant step in the South China Sea, installing an advanced anti-stealth radar on Triton Island in the Paracel Islands—a strategic and disputed region.

This radar, called the synthetic impulse and aperture radar (SIAR), is designed to detect stealth aircraft that evade conventional radar systems, strengthening China’s regional surveillance capabilities.

The SIAR operates on the VHF band and leverages high-level signal processing, providing a major upgrade in tracking airborne targets across vast stretches of the South China Sea.

Experts believe this radar installation fills a critical gap in China’s air surveillance, connecting coverage between China’s existing bases in the region, including Subi Reef and Hainan Island.

J. Michael Dahm from the Mitchell Institute emphasizes that overlapping radar coverage is essential to maintaining uninterrupted surveillance in the area, and Triton Island’s location makes it ideal.

Satellite images reveal ongoing construction on Triton Island, with a second tower and a large staging pad that could host mobile anti-ship missile batteries.

Triton Island is strategically located near Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), rich in valuable oil and gas resources—a site of past tension between China and Vietnam.

Analysts at Chatham House suggest this new radar could enable China to further pursue resources in disputed waters, a move that could increase tensions in the South China Sea.