China has completed a revolution more unsettling than its rare earths: the appearance of hundreds of holes in its deserts

Satellite imagery and open-source research identify about 320 new missile silo sites in western China, including around Yumen, Hami, and Ordos.

The buildup marks a shift from a small, survivable arsenal toward a larger, more dispersed nuclear force.

China is also expanding mobile DF-31 and DF-41 missiles, submarine-launched missiles on Type 094 and future Type 096 submarines, and the planned H-20 bomber.

The broader modernization aims to make China’s deterrent harder to neutralize and more credible in a crisis.