China may build more than a hundred intercontinental missile launch wells

A commercial satellite image obtained by researchers at the Researcher of the James Martin Research Center in the United States shows that there are 119 almost the same construction sites in Yumen, Gansu, China, and their characteristics are similar to that of the existing nuclear warhead ballistic missile launch facilities in China.

According to the Washington Post, Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asian Disposal Project, believes that these launch wells may be designed for the intercontinental ballistic missiles of Dongfeng-41.The goal of hitting 9,300 miles may cause mainland the United States within its range.Lewis said that the main excavation work on the venue started earlier this year, although the preparations may have been carried out for several months.

Lewis and his colleague Decker Eveleth discovered these construction sites after studying these commercial satellite images for several weeks.He described the scale of the project "incredible".Lewis said that this large -scale construction is a major effort made by China to strengthen its credibility of its nuclear deterrence.

The Washington Post issued emails and faxes seeking criticism to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Washington, but did not receive a reply.Officials of the White House and the Ministry of Defense did not respond to the inquiry of the launch well construction project in the report.

According to VOA, the Pentagon's assessment report on China ’s military power last September held that in the next ten years, with the expansion and modernization of China's nuclear forces, China's nuclear warhead inventory is expected to double.

The report pointed out that the number of nuclear warheads in China was estimated to be slightly more than 200 at the time, including the nuclear warheads that could be installed on the ballistic missiles that could be played in the United States.The current estimate of the American Organization American Scientist Alliance (FAS) is that China has a total of 320 nuclear warheads.

The U.S. nuclear arsenal is estimated to have 3800 nuclear warheads in their active state, far exceeding China's nuclear arsenal.The United States has the "Trinity" nuclear strike capacity, submarines and planes that can implement nuclear strikes, and land -based intercontinental ballistic missiles.