---
title: "China Is Building Even More Nuclear Missile Launchers"
description: "Chinese government is digging a second field of an additional 110 silos for launching nuclear missiles, The New York Times reports."
date: "2021-07-28"
modified: "2021-07-28"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-more-nuclear-missile-silos"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Nuclear Fusion"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "nuclear missiles"
  - "the digest"
---

# China Is Building Even More Nuclear Missile Launchers

![Chinese government is digging a second field of an additional 110 silos for launching nuclear missiles, The New York Times reports.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/china-more-nuclear-missile-silos.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nuclear_Missile_Silo_(7332367192).jpg" target="\_blank"\>Steve Jurvetson / Futurism\</a\>\</em\>*

## Silo Madness

Last month, [reports emerged](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/china-nuclear-missile-silos/2021/06/30/0fa8debc-d9c2-11eb-bb9e-70fda8c37057_story.html>) of China [constructing 119 identical missile silos](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-missile-silos-desert>) in a desert near the city of Yumen in northwest China. Satellite images showed a massive desert expanse pockmarked by individual silos.

Now, the Chinese government is digging a second field of an additional 110 silos for launching nuclear missiles, [*The New York Times* reports](<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/us/politics/china-nuclear-weapons.html>), a worrying sign that China may indeed be expanding its nuclear arsenal — and the capabilities to use it.

## Arms Race

There are still numerous questions unanswered, however. We still don't know if the two fields are actually capable of launching or holding nuclear missiles. And there's still a chance the fields, or portions of them, are decoys.

Under president Xi Jinping, China has been making aggressive moves to crack down on dissent, including the use of cyberweapons and asserting control over Hong Kong, as the *NYT* points out. The trend could therefore also signify a renewed and highly dangerous arms race.

## The Joneses

According to the *Times*, the silos could be read as an attempt to match its arsenal with its newly gained military superpower status — or perhaps a way to keep up with Russia's development of [hypersonic and autonomous weapons](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-first-nation-operational-hypersonic-weapon>).

Another possibility is that China is trying to confuse adversaries by creating a lot of targets.

"It’s not insane," arms expert Hans Kristensen told the *NYT*. "They make the United States target a lot of silos that may be empty."

**READ MORE:** [A 2nd New Nuclear Missile Base for China, and Many Questions About Strategy](<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/us/politics/china-nuclear-weapons.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on silos:** *[China Is Building 119 Mysterious Missile Silos in the Desert](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-missile-silos-desert>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)