What’s the reason behind China’s ICBM silo building spree?
The DF-41, here mounted on a launcher, will also be installed in silos. (Xinhua)
China has been secretively building 120 new silos to house DF-41 ICBMs - to what end?
Satellite imagery has revealed that China has been rapidly constructing no fewer than 120 silos to house intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in landlocked Gansu Province in northwest China.
Major construction kicked off earlier this year at the site that covers hundreds of square miles of desert to the west and southwest of Yumen town. The site is still under construction, and many silos are hidden under 70m-wide inflatable domes to conceal construction details from prying satellites.
The discovery was made by Decker Eveleth, an amateur satellite intelligence analyst using commercially available imagery from Planet. His findings for the James Martin
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