Arms control experts seem to think that China is building missile "sponge". Field of 120 silos would contain only 12 ICBM's or so. If they build enough silos into the desert and and decoys for the rest, the US must spend more and more missiles to destroy just few missiles.
The US had similar plan at the beginning of the Cold War. It became politically impossible to use eminent domain to create so large missile fields on farmland.
Why wouldn't they.
Chinese are expected to moderately expand their arsenal, but they don't need significantly more silo-based warheads for credible deterrence, they just need to increase survivability from decapitation attack. Missile sponge is very cost effective way to do that. Their road-mobile and rail-mobile DF-41 ICBM's provide already good deterrence, but putting the new DF-41s into silos just increases the variety and survivability of their ground based deterrence.
It makes no sense to put missile silos close together.
I’ll reserve judgment for now, but I doubt the headline’s claim.
Or to make satellite overwatch of what they're doing under the dome that much more difficult.
Or both!
And no, you can't guarantee a launch before destruction for deterrence.
However it is fairly obvious to me that the Chinese are going to expand their nuclear weapons arsenal until it matches that of the Americans.
The solution for this is for the Americans to have a smaller arsenal.
The solution of reducing arms is moot. Pandora’s box has already been opened. Plus you don’t defend yourself by looking weak. I argue the nuclear arsenals around the world have kept everyone in line. WW1 was horrifying enough to deter any further war, then WW2 happened.
You can’t eradicate human conquest, but you can deter it with enough counterforce that makes the action seem too large of a sacrifice.
Once they locate interesting spot, they can buy better quality satellite images and get better time coverage.
True, completely uncensored high definition optical satellite pictures should be available and free to everyone.
BTW: Most of the pictures are from https://www.planet.com/
Very well said.
Not a problem for China with its industrial capacity larger than both USA, and Russia together.
The biggest gun you can afford is almost always the most efficient spend of your money.
> they don't need significantly more silo-based warheads for credible deterrence
Who said they need it for deterrence? If their goal would be just deterrence, they wouldn't be trying so hard to undermine it.
It's very clear they want to have enough missiles to perform a first strike on the two likeliest (now possibly three) enemies.
It's the most clear, and logical explanation standing any military theory test.
Nuclear proliferation is extremely dangerous, for every one in the world including the proliferater, so it's not clear that a country maximally expanding its nuclear arsenal is the most logical move to advance its self-interest.
It's outright stupid to think that the person doing something something as big as this is not conscious of this.
On the opposite, this big scare factor very much must be a part of the strategy.