Silent deterrence. Satellites Monitor China's Largest Nuclear Expansion Deep in the Desert

Commercial satellite imagery has revealed a large-scale strategic shift deep in China's remote desert: the creation of large, fortified military complexes with a network of more than 300 new ICBM launchers, as well as sophisticated command centers and electronic warfare facilities.

Use of deceptive engineering techniques

Security analyses from the Yumin, Hami, and Ordos fields have shown that Beijing has used deceptive engineering techniques such as massive air domes to hide drilling operations, with the aim of protecting its underground facilities from Western space surveillance and securing the "second strike" doctrine that ensures China's ability to respond devastatingly even if it is preemptively hit.

The new infrastructure was aimed at accommodating the latest terrifying missiles in the Chinese military's arsenal, such as the Dongfeng-41 (DF−41) missile, which is capable of carrying multiple independently guided nuclear warheads and striking any city deep inside the United States, raising the level of mutual deterrence and further complicating U.S. military calculations, especially in light of the escalating tensions over the Taiwan file.

These sites are also being developed into integrated military complexes that include fortified road networks, underground bunkers, command and communications centers, and facilities dedicated to supporting the operation of mobile missiles.

These silos are preparing to accommodate China's latest ballistic missiles, foremost of which is the Dongfeng-41 solid-fuel missile, which is one of the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles, with a range that allows it to reach very distant targets, and is capable of carrying multiple independently guided nuclear warheads.

The system also includes other missiles such as the Dongfeng-31 and Dongfeng-5, which enhance China's ability to carry out long-range strikes quickly and efficiently.

This previously unannounced military infrastructure reflects a clear trend towards enhancing the fortification and operational capabilities of China's ground nuclear forces, ensuring continuity of operations even in the event of large-scale attacks.

  Consolidate the Second Strike Capability

Observers believe that this development reflects China's quest to consolidate the "second strike" capability, i.e., ensuring the ability to respond to nuclear even after a first attack, which increases the intensity of strategic competition with the United States, especially in light of the escalating tensions related to the Taiwan file.

 Protecting missile silos deployed in desert areas such as Xinjiang and Gansu is crucial to China's nuclear doctrine, which is based on having limited but reliable deterrence capable of responding in the event of an attack.

Although China possesses naval and air-based nuclear capabilities via submarines and aircraft, land-based missile silos in the country's northwest remain a key component of the nuclear power structure.

For decades, China has relied on a strategy of "minimum deterrence," which is to have a limited number of nuclear warheads as a defensive tool only. Since 2021, however, international research institutes (such as the Union of American Scientists) have seen a quantum leap in the construction of hundreds of onshore silos in northwest China, marking a radical shift that brings Beijing closer to dominating the global nuclear landscape alongside the United States and Russia.