China’s ICBMs Can Reach Continental US From Mainland China

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

The pace of Chinese nuclear weapons modernization is nothing short of completely staggering, as the PRC intends to double the number of its warheads by just the end of this decade and is now building hundreds of ICBM missile silos across mainland China. 

Concerns about China’s nuclear ambitions have been on the Pentagon’s radar for a very long time, and concern continues to escalate given the pace of nuclear expansion and China’s apparent unwillingness to enter nuclear arms reduction treaty discussions. 

Indeed the Pentagon’s annual report has, for the last several years, cited alarming numbers regarding the speed of China’s nuclear expansion and the extent to which it not only threatens the region but can also threaten the continental US from mainland China and undersea locations thousands of miles off shore. 

Several years ago, former Commander, Air Force Global Strike, Gen. Timothy Ray was quite clear with his description of the threat. 

“A troubling revelation has been about the trajectory of the Chinese nuclear program. The Chinese have plans to at least double their arsenal by the end of the decade. They are departing from what has been known as a minimalist theory,” Gen. Timothy Ray, Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, told reporters at the 2021 Air Force Association Symposium. 

Ray cited a hope that China might be willing to consider joining various ongoing arms treaty discussions, but did not appear extremely optimistic about the possibility given China’s approach to nuclear weapons modernization.

“Combined with a near-complete lack of transparency regarding their (China’s) strategic intent and the perceived need for a much larger, more diverse nuclear force, these developments pose a significant concern for the United States,” the 2020 Pentagon report on China explains.