The base, complete with extensive underground storage facilities, houses China’s DF 21 Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBM) that have a range of over 2,200 km and can target most cities in northern India and southern Russia. New Delhi has been keeping the base — built in the late 1970s — under regular surveillance.

Experts analysing the new satellite imagery have identified 58 launch pads, many of which have been added within the last four years. New command and control facilities and missile deployment equipment are also visible at the base.

While the upgraded base does not change the situation much for India — it has been within the reach of Chinese nuclear missiles for years — it once again brings to light that New Delhi is far from matching Beijing’s growing strategic reach in the region.

“China appears to be building/ upgrading launch pads in the area, but that is to escape US and Russian counter-force targeting. India is still many years away from a counter-force capability, if it ever plans to develop one,” Hans Kristensen, Director, Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists (FAS), told The Indian Express.

China has recently replaced its older generation DF 4 missiles, which needed a two-three hours preparation time before launch, at the Delingha base with the newer solid-fueled DF 21 missiles that can be launched within a few minutes of reaction time.

While the base was built in the 1970’s when Russia was a major military threat to China, experts say that the missiles deployed there are likely to be targeted only against threats from India and Russia. Other traditional rivals, like Japan, Taiwan and US are out of reach from the base.

“The location was chosen back when the Soviet Union was a major concern for China. There is also another DF-21 deployment area in southern China near Kunming from where DF-21 missiles can cover parts of northern India. Yet, unlike Kunming, the Delingha deployment area can cover all of northern India. So, India and Russia are both important targets for the Delingha missiles,” Kristensen said.

The upgradation of the Delingha facility and the new Hainan Island submarine base are just a few indicators of China’s extensive military reforms in recent years.

The latest US Department of Defence report on China says that the country is enhancing its strategic strike capabilities by fielding a new range of missile systems and submarines that “will give China a more survivable nuclear force”.

Besides cutting down its standing army to make it a leaner and meaner force, the country has also embarked on a major drive to upgrade conventional capabilities from a ground based force to an integrated service supported by “ground, naval, aviation, and missile forces”.