China is building more underground silos for its ballistic missiles

Satellite images show at least 16 of the launch facilities being constructed in a PLA training area in Inner Mongolia, according to US think tank report

It says they are designed to accommodate the country’s most powerful ICBMs, as it seeks to boost nuclear deterrence

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New silos are being built from where China’s most powerful ballistic missiles like the DF-41 could be launched. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 16 Mar 2021Updated: 9:00pm, 16 Mar 2021

China is building more underground silos from where its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles could be launched, according to reports.

They are reportedly being built in the north of the country and are designed to accommodate the DF-41 and DF-31AG missiles that have a range of 10,000km to 14,000km (6,200 to 8,700 miles) – meaning they could reach US territory.

The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has begun constructing at least 16 silos in a missile training area west of Wuhai in Inner Mongolia, Washington-based think tank the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said in a report in late February, citing satellite images.

It said that as military rivalry with the US intensified, China was moving to expand its nuclear deterrence strategy and the missile silos were part of that.

China’s DF-41 missiles can carry multiple nuclear warheads and can be fired from a silo-based platform or a road- or rail-based mobile launcher.

The new underground silos are located in the centre of the Jilantai training base, within a total area of 200 sq km, and are spaced between 2.2km and 4.4km apart so that no two of them can be destroyed in a single nuclear attack, according to the report.

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