A study of satellite images produced by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California this week revealed China is constructing over 100 new silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in the northwestern desert of Gansu province.

“The acquisition of more than 100 new missile silos, if completed, would represent a historic shift for China, a country that is believed to possess a relatively modest stockpile of between 250 and 350 nuclear weapons. The actual number of new missiles intended for those silos is unknown but could be much smaller. China has deployed decoy silos in the past,” the Washington Post noted Wednesday.

The James Martin Center spotted 119 construction sites laid out in a grid over hundreds of square miles near the Chinese city of Yuman, with each launch site separated from its closest neighbor by at least two miles.

About two dozen more silos are being built in other locations. The sites are “nearly identical” to each other – and to existing Chinese nuclear missile launch facilities. The new silos are big enough to hold Chinese DF-41 ICBMs, a relatively new design capable of reaching the United States with multiple nuclear warheads.

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