China Launch Pads Near Nuclear Missile Silos: China is building a large military area in a far-off desert in the northwest. The site is near nuclear missile silos that hold China’s longest-range missiles. The idea behind all this building appears to be simple. It may make it much harder for any American first strike to wipe out China’s nuclear ability to hit back. China’s missiles already can reach any city in the United States.
The satellite images reviewed by Reuters show more than 80 launch pads, plus bunkers and communication sites. The work is spread across a wide desert area near Hami in Xinjiang. Reuters said the scale had not been reported before. The whole network looks like a strong shield around China’s land-based nuclear forces.
What the new sites include
The images show more than 80 pads that could be used by mobile missile launchers and air-defense units. Analysts also think some of the sites may be used for electronic warfare, satellite communications, and command work. Reuters said three security analysts looked at the imagery and helped explain what the structures may be for.
The desert layout also includes three octagon-shaped installations. Reuters said the northern octagon and southern octagon are in eastern Xinjiang. It also noted that the northern octagon was seen on March 18, 2026 and the southern octagon on August 4, 2025 in satellite imagery. The areas have buildings for personnel, storage space for military vehicles, bunkers, and links such as airfields and railheads that connect them to the Hami silo area.
Why it matters?
Security analyst Alexander Neill said, “We can see this infrastructure is being built on a grand scale, covering thousands of square kilometers of desert beyond the silo fields,” and added that, depending on the details, “we’re looking at a very considerable enhancement and diversification of China’s strategic nuclear deterrent.”
This matters because China says it follows a “no first use” policy. That means it says it would not start a nuclear war first. But the huge build-up still worries Western diplomats and analysts. They think China may want a stronger second-strike setup, so it can retaliate even after an attack. Reuters also noted that China’s nuclear modernization is being watched closely because of tension with the United States, especially over Taiwan.
Xi told U.S. President Donald Trump that mishandling the Taiwan dispute could lead them to a “dangerous place.” China’s defense ministry did not answer questions about the program, and the Pentagon said it would not comment on intelligence matters
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Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in nuclear policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “Taken together, I think there is a real possibility that the octagonal structures and the strange towers are linked to C3 – command, control, and communications – as well as maintenance and storage activities related to China’s nuclear operations at the Hami ICBM silo site.”
Third Octagon Appears Different From the Other Sites
A third octagon-shaped site can also be seen in the area, but it looks much less developed than the other two locations. Experts believe this site may be used as a target practice range for military training exercises.
Satellite images show damaged structures at the location. According to Vantor, the area also contains mock versions of Western fighter aircraft that may be used during training and testing activities.
Hans Kristensen, who leads the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said the defensive setup China is building around its missile silos is very different from what is normally seen in the United States and Russia. He explained that the US and Russia mainly depend on large numbers of silos, remote locations, and heavily protected construction instead of building this kind of missile defence network around them.
Speaking about the project, Kristensen said, “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.” He also described the construction effort as “an extraordinary effort.”
