(soft music) – [Host] This map shows the maximum range of China's land-based conventional
strike missiles in 2015. Less than a decade later, that range has doubled,
putting all American bases in the Asia Pacific, including
Guam within the range of precision missiles fired
from the Chinese mainland. A secretive Chinese
military unit is responsible for that expansion, and now
controls one of the largest and most diverse land-based
missile forces in the world. Details of the force are some of China's most tightly guarded secrets, but Western intelligence agencies and researchers have revealed
evidence of its dramatic rise.
– China has rapidly increased
its missile arsenal. This is a menacing challenge
to the United States. (upbeat music) – [Host] In August, 2023,
Chinese leader Xi Jinping suddenly ousted and replaced the head of an opaque military unit
called the rocket force. China's leaders have tasked this force with its highest military objective. (group cheering) Preparing for a possible
invasion of Taiwan (bombs exploding) and deterring the United
States from intervening. (man speaking foreign language) – [Host] In recent years, the force has test launched
hundreds of ballistic missiles at a rate that has exceeded
the rest of the world combined. Alexander Neal is a former defense analyst for the British government. – The PLA rocket force has
six bases spread across China in an arc in the south,
which are responsible for a potential Taiwan conflict. Then up in the Northeast,
which is responsible for Korean Peninsula and targeting Japan, there's a dedicated base in central China.
And finally, a base which
is responsible for the northwest of China. – [Host] On top of these six main bases, which are numbered from 61 to 66, the rocket force also has
several supporting bases, one of which is regarded
as the most important. – Base 67 is the most secretive of the PLA rocket force basis. The guardian of China's
strategic nuclear deterrent. (soft music) – Little is known about
the base in Baoji City in central China, but bunkers dug into the Qinling Mountain
Range on the outskirts of the city houses most of China's nuclear warheads stockpile. – From Base 67, the warheads
subsequently distributed by rail all across China,
northwest, northeast, and into the south, across
the brigades responsible for launch and deployments
of the nuclear deterrent.
(upbeat music) – [Host] Bases in China's north are tasked with maintaining nuclear capable
intercontinental ballistic missiles focused on
targets on the US mainland. – A number of scientists
looking at civilian imagery spotted three new missile
silo fields under development. (soft music) The silo fields are based
in very deserted areas outside of Hami, Yumen
City and Ordos City. – [Host] Silos are built as
circular tubes into the ground and contain propellants
to launch missiles. – You can see here the Ordos silo field, which is typically made up
of about 100 silos here. An important aspect of silo fields is something
called a shell game. You might have 100 silos, but
you may fill only 50% of them, and the adversary has to calculate which of those silos are armed in
order to make a calculation for a counterstrike. And a shell game is designed
to keep the adversary guessing and also to reserve your own
number of warheads as well. – [Host] The construction in Ordos, Hami and Yumen is thought to be
the most extensive buildup of missile silos since the Cold War. If China mounts nuclear warheads
on missiles in these silos, it will present a huge strategic shift for US military planners.
– You can see here that the arc of the three silo fields is
designed to launch missiles over the North Pole and to the continental United States. – [Host] All this could give
Beijing the military capability to deter Washington from
engaging China militarily in the event of an invasion of Taiwan. (bombs exploding) The rocket force recently
demonstrated its capability to strike Taiwan during a conflict. – Subordinate to Base 61 are a number of brigades involved in
the targeting of Taiwan during missile tests, when Nancy Pelosi visited
Taiwan in August, 2022. (bombs exploding) – [Host] China conducted several
days of military exercises. – A number of short and
intermediate range missiles were launched into exclusion zones to the north and south of Taiwan. One of them was to the east and seaboard, and there were also some
short range rocket firings between Taiwan and Fujian province. – [Host] China has been building up its missile capacity
near Taiwan for years, but drills during Pelosi's visit demonstrate the rocket
force's new capability to target the entire periphery of Taiwan.
– These brigades are one of the sharpest tools in their arsenal to mount a devastating
missile attack on the island to blockade the island to
close off shipping lanes and to mount a stranglehold
on the island during times of political sensitivity. – [Host] China views Taiwan's autonomy and its links with the US as
a geostrategic vulnerability. – So if we flip the map,
it depicts the challenge that China is facing. It's hemmed in to some degree by the first island chain, and to a lesser extent by
the second island chain. It's a dilemma of oceanic geography, but in a military sense, this is why the rocket
force is so important. The rocket force would play a key role to prevent intervention
of the United States and allies were at war
to break out over Taiwan.
(soft music) – [Host] The Rocket forces
developed missiles capable of striking US forces coming to Taiwan's aid within the
first and second island chains. One of these is the Don Fang 26, known as the carrier killer. The weapon has been deployed to a number of brigades posing a challenge to the US. – The DF-26 can be either
conventionally armed or nuclear armed. It can accurately target bases like Guam, but it can also target an
aircraft carrier strike group. So this presents a major challenge for United States in terms of its counter intervention campaign. (bombs exploding) – [Host] The Biden
administration has said US forces will support Taiwan in the
event of a Chinese invasion. China's rocket force now
presents a serious threat to the US' ability to do that dramatically raising the
stakes in any conflict over the island. China's ministry of defense
did not respond to a request for comment. (soft music).