For the first time, China Central Television disclosed the missile silo project in the western desert, admitting that it faced pressure to rush the project

A documentary recently broadcast by China Central Television on the 99th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army made it public for the first time that Rocket Force engineers talked about the construction of missile silos in the western desert. First Class Sergeant Major Choi Do-ho interviewed said that he had been involved in the "Building Houses for Missiles" project for many years and had faced pressure to complete the project on schedule during the construction period.

Satellite images in 2021 show that there are large-scale suspected missile silo projects in Hami, Xinjiang, China, and Yumen, Gansu, while there are missile training facilities in Jilantai, Inner Mongolia. For the first time, China Central Television has publicly talked about the participation of Rocket Force personnel in the construction of a project that attracted attention from the outside world.

The military news website "Defence Blog" reported that this is the first time that Chinese and military-related media have publicly talked about this project since the outside world discovered the large-scale launch silo project through satellite images in 2021. Satellite images from that year showed that about 320 launch silos were under construction in Yumen, Gansu, Hami, Xinjiang, and Jilantai, Inner Mongolia. Since then, they have been attracting attention from the outside world.

Cui Daohu in the documentary appeared in Chinese military media reports in 2025. At that time, he mainly introduced his engineering skills and work experience, and did not mention related silos or strategic nuclear weapons. This time, CCTV directly linked his engineering work with the strategic missile mission, which also caused the outside world to pay renewed attention to the construction progress of these facilities.

Pressure on project deadlines and “strategic trump card” emerges

Cui Daohu said that he had been asked on different occasions whether the project could be completed on schedule. To this end, he improved the construction methods, including adjusting the installation procedures of some core structures to shorten the construction time. He also mentioned that the relevant projects are to ensure that the country can retain its "strategic trump card."

"Defence Blog" quoted "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" analyst Rossiter as saying that the documentary content links the rapid construction of silos with China's doubts about the United States' missile defense capabilities, including the "Golden Dome" project proposed by the Trump administration. Rossiter believes that this may reflect China's desire to ensure that it still retains its secondary counterattack capability after suffering a nuclear attack.

Rossiter further pointed out that CCTV’s direct connection between Cui Daohu and the strategic missile project may mean that these launch silos are close to completion. However, this is an external analysis and not the project progress or completion status officially announced by China.

China has not publicly stated the specific number and purpose of these silos in the past. The United States and other research institutions continue to estimate the size of China's nuclear arsenal. Some assessments believe that China may have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. However, there are still differences in various estimates, and the number of silos cannot be directly converted into the number of nuclear warheads.

This time CCTV disclosed that engineering personnel talked about "building houses for missiles", which once again brought the large-scale launch silo project in western China to the forefront. As for the overall number of facilities, current deployment status and project completion level, Chinese officials have not given a complete explanation.