China secretly planning mass deployment of ballistic missiles, new silos indicate: Report

A month after International media reported about the emergence of the DF-21D "carrier killer", which indicated the emphasis of China in placing ballistic missiles, another report has asserted that China has been secretly prioritizing the mass deployment of ballistic missiles. According to a report by ANI, Beijing has secretly ramped up nuclear production and deployed new shorter-range missile types in the region where the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has its base nearer to the site. The reports said that currently, the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) has full control over China's ballistic missile arsenal.

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation unearth 120 silos near Yumen

It also controls vast silo fields, currently under construction. It is the same place where they launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The agency report also said that three large missile silo sites that lie deep inside China were recently discovered by the open-source intelligence (OSINT) community. According to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, it has unearthed an ICBM field of 120 silos near Yumen in the Gobi Desert, in late June. Subsequently, Matt Korda and Hans Kristensen from the Federation of American Scientists revealed they have discovered at least 110 missile silos near Hami in eastern Xinjiang in July this year.

In the latest, Roderick Lee from the China Aerospace Studies Institute has uncovered the third silo field in Hanggin Banner in Inner Mongolia. The recent discovery was announced in the second week of this month. According to China Aerospace Studies, they have information about the construction of a grid layout similar to the other two that had commenced around May this year. Apart from Aerospace revelation, satellite imagery also showed two clusters with 29 potential silos in total, of which 13 were sheltered by typical inflatable domes to cover sensitive construction details.

China's nuclear tests killed 1.94 lakh people due to acute radiation exposure

Earlier today, on August 23, China has reportedly conducted around 45 successful nuclear tests between 1964 and 1996, killing 1,94,000 people from acute radiation exposure. Peter Suciu, writing in The National Interest said that estimates suggest 1,94,000 people have died from acute radiation exposure, while around 1.2 million may have received doses high enough to induce leukaemia, solid cancers and foetal damage. After becoming the fifth nuclear power in the world, in June 1967, only thirty-two months after its first nuclear test, the People's Republic of China (PRC) conducted its first thermonuclear test.

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image Credit: ANI/AP)