China is building 300 missile silos, which could make its nuclear arsenal bigger than Russia or America

The Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit think tank founded by scientists who worked on the first atom bomb, says satellite images show China has made substantial progress in building hundreds of missile silos that could be used to launch nuclear weapons. Researchers Matt Korda and Hans Kristensen wrote in their study published on Tuesday, that China is experiencing an unprecedented nuclear buildup, first reported by CNN.

According to reports, in June and July, China appeared to be building two missile silo fields in the Xinjiang desert to house a network of 229 underground silos. Scientists said that these silos would increase China’s nuclear capacity to 845 warheads, as they typically house intercontinental ballistic missiles or long-range weapons that can deliver nuclear payloads.

The researchers, after analyzing hundreds of satellite images, have raised their silo estimate to 300. With 300 underground silos and around 100 mobile missile launchers, China’s total intercontinental ballistics force could exceed that of Russia or America in the foreseeable future. As Kristensen told CNN, ‘what’s remarkable about this is the scale and the speed that is so out of sync with what the Chinese have done on missile silos ever before’.

The researchers noted that the silos are a long way from becoming fully operational and there is no indication of what China plans to do with the silos or how many of them will be armed. They analyzed four main areas in the desert for signs of silo construction. They observed semi-circle silo wall structures, silo hatches, and what they suspect to be a missile loading operation.’ Based on the features we can examine on the new satellite images, we are increasingly confident that the facilities are indeed missile silos and support facilities under construction,’ wrote Kristensen and Korda.

Researchers found dozens of inflated shelters that protect the silos from environmental damage and obstruct the view of the construction from the air. Kristensen and Korda noted that most of these shelters were similar to the size of a football field. China, which has a ‘non-first-use policy’ for nuclear weapons, has not yet confirmed or denied the observation.

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The South China Morning Post reports Chinese nuclear experts to dismiss claims of nuclear bases under construction. Former People’s Liberation Army instructor Song Zhongping says nuclear silos are outdated. Beijing denied a Financial Times report claiming that it was testing a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile last month. It has consistently rejected calls from NATO to limit its nuclear arsenal, and maintains that such a policy is a form of ‘minimal deterrence’.