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View of North Field, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, March 31, 1945, when it was the busiest airport in the world. PhotoQuest/Archive Photos/Getty Images CNN — The US Air Force plans to bring the Pacific island airfield that launched the atomic bombings of Japan back into commission as it tries to broaden its basing options in the event of any hostilities with China, the service’s top officer in the Pacific says.

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces, told Nikkei Asia in an interview published this week that North Airfield on the island of Tinian will become an “extensive” facility once work has been completed to reclaim it from the jungle that has grown over the base since the last US Army Air Force units abandoned it in 1946.

“If you pay attention in the next few months, you will see significant progress, especially at Tinian North,” Wilsbach said. The Air Force is also adding facilities at Tinian International Airport in the center of the island.

Pacific Air Forces confirmed Wilsbach’s comments to CNN but said there was no official release on the subject.