Satellite Imagery Reveals New Chinese Missile Launch Structures at Jilantai Test Base Suggesting Conventional Quick-Strike Capability

The China Aerospace Studies Institute reported that the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force built a previously unknown fixed launch system at the 1st Test and Training District near Jilantai, Inner Mongolia, with construction beginning in late 2022 and appearing externally complete by late 2023 12. Satellite imagery analyzed by CASI researcher Eli Tirk shows two rectangular structures with retractable roofs roughly 20 meters long and 6.5 meters wide, shallower than China's ICBM silos; the system likely supports short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles or cruise missiles rather than intercontinental weapons 2. Tirk's report assesses the design may function as a multi-cell vertical launch system capable of firing several missile types simultaneously, including DF-21 or DF-17 class weapons 13. The Washington Times, citing the CASI report and analyst Tom Shugart of the Center for New American Security, noted the launcher sits within an 800-square-mile training base that Federation of American Scientists researcher Hans Kristensen previously reported had at least 16 new ICBM silos under construction 3. Shugart assessed the multi-cell configuration is cheaper for fielding large missile numbers than individual transporter-erector launchers, and the report warned the capability could let the PLA rapidly escalate from a Taiwan blockade to a mass preparatory fires campaign against Taiwan, U.S. bases in the First Island Chain, or U.S. Navy task groups 3.