{"id":140009,"date":"2026-05-29T15:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/29\/china-is-building-launch-pads-near-its-nuclear-missile-silos\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:32:10","slug":"china-is-building-launch-pads-near-its-nuclear-missile-silos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/china\/2026\/05\/29\/china-is-building-launch-pads-near-its-nuclear-missile-silos\/","title":{"rendered":"China is building launch pads near its nuclear missile silos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a remote Chinese desert, a vast military<\/a> complex is taking shape that some security scholars say appears built to ensure no American first strike on China\u2019s<\/a> nuclear arsenal could reliably knock out Beijing\u2019s ability to hit back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s nuclear missiles<\/a> can already reach any city in the United States. Now, satellite images reviewed by Reuters show Beijing is building a sprawling web of launch pads, bunkers and communications nodes near the isolated nuclear silos that hold the Chinese military\u2019s<\/a> longest-range missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images reveal more than 80 pads for possible use by China\u2019s expanding fleet<\/a> of mobile missile launchers and air-defense batteries. They also show facilities that may serve electronic warfare, satellite communications and command operations, according to three security analysts, who assessed the imagery for Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of the construction, which hasn\u2019t been previously reported, points to a sweeping expansion of hardened infrastructure designed to protect and operate China\u2019s land-based nuclear forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taken together, the network signals a significant upgrade in Beijing\u2019s efforts to ensure second-strike capability, underscoring intensifying nuclear competition with the United States as tensions<\/a> rise over issues such as Taiwan\u2019s<\/a> sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can see this infrastructure is being built on a grand scale, covering thousands of square kilometers of desert beyond the silo fields,\u201d said Alexander Neill, an adjunct fellow at Hawaii\u2019s Pacific Forum think tank. Depending on the precise capabilities, he said, \u201cwe\u2019re looking at a very considerable enhancement and diversification of China\u2019s strategic nuclear deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Satellite image shows one of the two Xinjiang octagon-shaped military facilities, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, Aug. 4, 2025. (Vantor\/Handout via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ability to protect its desert silos is key to China\u2019s stated goal of forging a minimal but credible nuclear deterrent \u2014 a policy grounded in the capacity to retaliate if it is struck first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) can fire nuclear weapons from submarines and aircraft, the silo fields in the northwestern Xinjiang region and Gansu province are the core of its nuclear forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s nuclear build-up is among the most scrutinized facets of President Xi Jinping\u2019s military modernization because of what some foreign diplomats describe as Beijing\u2019s lack of transparency and failed efforts by the United States to engage the Chinese leadership on its evolving nuclear capabilities and intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cornerstone of China\u2019s doctrine is its \u201cno first use\u201d policy, meaning its forces wouldn\u2019t initiate a nuclear exchange. But some senior Western diplomats and analysts say China would possibly resort to nuclear coercion to limit outside involvement in a conflict over Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xi this month warned U.S. President Donald Trump that mishandling of their countries\u2019 disagreements over Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, could lead them to a \u201cdangerous place.\u201d Taiwan\u2019s government rejects China\u2019s sovereignty claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s defense ministry didn\u2019t respond to questions about its nuclear program and the developments revealed in the satellite imagery. The Pentagon said it wouldn\u2019t comment on intelligence-related matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OCTAGONS IN THE DESERT<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The new desert infrastructure is centered on two octagon-shaped installations built over the past six years in eastern Xinjiang. Both are southwest of the Hami nuclear silo fields \u2014 one is about 140 kilometers away, the other some 230 kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satellite images show the octagon structures contain housing for personnel and large military vehicles. They are flanked by armored bunkers and fortified weapons-storage areas, as well as airfields and railheads that link the octagons to the Hami silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercises involving large military vehicles occurred around the northern octagon this month and during April, the images show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also evident in recent images are large tents and what two analysts said appear to be camouflaged launch sites cut into the desert, some with air-defense missile batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Satellite image shows a purported launch pad, part of two isolated desert networks linked by roads and possible communications, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, April 10, 2026. (Vantor\/Handout via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The existence of the octagons has been documented previously. But Reuters is the first to report the extent of the launch-pad network linked to the octagons; recent military activity around one of the facilities; and analysts\u2019 assessments that the pads could field mobile missile launchers and electronic-warfare operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five security scholars interviewed by Reuters agreed the infrastructure broadly could support China\u2019s nuclear program, as well as other military purposes. But they cautioned that key details remain unknown \u2014 including the weapons China might deploy at the launch pads and whether the octagon structures house truck-mounted ballistic missiles or facilities for fitting nuclear warheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PLA displayed nuclear-capable weapons during a parade in Beijing last September to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. These included silo-based and truck-mounted intercontinental ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials and arms-control analysts say China is expanding and improving its nuclear weapons capabilities faster than any other nation. The latest Pentagon report on China\u2019s military modernization says the country\u2019s warhead production has slowed but it is on track to field 1,000 warheads by 2030. The December report estimated China is likely to have loaded 100 ICBMs across its three main silo fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has also been strengthening its early-warning system, underpinned by its Huoyan-1 satellites, according to U.S. officials. The system can detect an incoming ICBM within 90 seconds of launch and alert a command center within three to four minutes, according to the Pentagon \u2014 sufficient time for China to fire its own silo-based weapons before they are hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018AN EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT\u2019<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Significantly, each octagon sits at the core of a network of dirt roads and conduits that stretch far into the desert. These routes connect to the concrete pads, which are nestled among rocky outcrops and dry creekbeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pads could be used to deploy mobile air-defense missiles, electronic warfare nodes or, from some of the larger ones, road-mobile ICBM launchers, three security scholars said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Satellite image reportedly shows a fortified weapons storage installation, revealing revetments around the building, a perimeter wall and guard towers, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, March 19, 2026. (Vantor\/Handout via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists\u2019 Nuclear Information Project, said while it was difficult to conclude how the various installations would be used, \u201cit is hard to rule anything out\u201d given the scale of the infrastructure in such a hostile environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conduits that link the pads to the octagon structures may contain fiber-optic cables for communications, Kristensen and Neill said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the northernmost octagon, a possible space or microwave communications facility is also under construction, three analysts said, pointing to satellite dishes and two large towers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaken together, I think there is a real possibility that the octagonal structures and the strange towers are linked to C3 – command, control, and communications – as well as maintenance and storage activities related to China\u2019s nuclear operations at the Hami ICBM silo site,\u201d said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in nuclear policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third octagon-shaped installation south of the Lop Nur nuclear test facilities is less developed. It appears to be used as a target range: Images show pock-marked earth, damaged buildings and what analysts at Vantor, a commercial provider of satellite imagery, said are mock-ups of Western jet fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extent of the defensive network near its silos potentially sets China apart from the other major nuclear powers. The U.S. and Russia \u2014 whose warhead stockpiles and deployed weapons far exceed Beijing\u2019s \u2014 rely on a combination of sheer numbers of silos, their relative isolation and hardened construction to deter a first strike, rather than extensive missile defense, Kristensen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scale of what is emerging in China\u2019s northwestern desert has left even seasoned analysts startled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything quite like it,\u201d Kristensen said. \u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinary effort.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s nuclear missiles can reach any U.S. city. 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