Analysts say China building up to 100 missile silos in northwestern desert
07/07/2021 / By Ramon Tomey
A number of analysts said China has started building more than 100 new missile silos in the northwestern province of Gansu. Satellite images revealed construction work being done at identical sites across square miles of desert near the city of Yumen. The new missile silos would symbolize China’s renewed pivot toward expanding its nuclear capabilities.
Commercial satellite company Planet took the satellite images showing 119 nearly identical construction sites. It turned the images over to researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California. The silos had features seen in existing launch facilities for China’s arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. They covered parts of a desert basin that stretched to the west and southwest of Yumen city, which lied along the ancient Silk Road trade route.
Experts said the project could provide China with another means of concealing its most powerful weapons. They added that if completed, the missile silos at Yumen would represent a historic shift for the communist country. China is believed to possess a “relatively modest” stockpile of 250 to 350 nuclear weapons.
https://militarytechnology.news/2021-07-07-analysts-say-china-building-missile-silos-northwest.html#
