The location of the construction site of 100 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICMBs) in Gobi desert, is along the once strategic Silk Road in an area that houses 1,70,000 people.
The location of the construction site of 100 ICMBs in Gobi desert by China, is along the once strategic Silk Road in an area that houses 1,70,000 people.
The location of the silos were seen in the satellite imagery.
Over a year after Chinese forces clashed with the Indian Army in Eastern Ladakh, a new report hints at Beijing’s quiet push toward bolstering its nuclear arsenal. China has reportedly begun the construction of over 100 silos to hold Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) in a desert near the northwestern city of Yumen.
Beijing, already has a stockpile of 250 to 350 nuclear weapons.
The images, released by The Washington Post, show excavations, long trenches and surface structure among other features similar to those seen at existing nuclear launch facilities. Researchers compared images taken during the past four months with new images from past weeks to establish the sudden development.
The construction was captured in new commercial satellite images of remote areas west and southwest of Yumen on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
The new buildup could spark concerns across the board from Delhi to Washington, which has been pushing against the expansionary policies of Beijing under President Xi Jinping.
The new images come on the heels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) celebrating its 100th anniversary with Xi saying that the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us. Satellite imagery has long been used to identify such spots that could be prominent to geopolitical development