Satellite images shared with the British newspaper Telegraph revealed a secret that China tries to keep out of the spotlight: a military base capable of nuclear testing in an isolated area of the country.
Tucked away on the outskirts of the Gobi Desert, the sprawling facility was previously chosen as the site of China’s first nuclear test in the 1960s. It now houses the world’s longest airstrip and appears to be expanding its nuclear capabilities in the remote region. Some analysts even compare Lop Nur to Area 51, a top-secret US facility located in the Nevada desert.
The satellite images were captured by Planet Labs and published by the Telegraph, despite flying over the region being strictly prohibited. Two tailless stealth fighters were spotted at the site.
Peter Layton, an aviation expert and visiting researcher at Griffith University in Australia, told the Telegraph that the larger of the two jets observed, known as J-36, is a tailless, two-seat, three-engine fighter that appears to have a design “optimized for stealth.” The J-36 made its maiden flight in December last year.
Additionally, the long runway built at the military base is believed to accommodate China’s experimental, reusable space plane, which was first spotted in 2020 and compared to the United States’ X-37B unmanned space plane.
The aircraft has a wingspan of just over 19 meters and a length of 18 meters. The images obtained also suggest that it could carry a “significant” payload. Layton states that its characteristics allow us to conclude that the plane can carry both air-to-ground weapons and long-range air-to-air missiles.
US intelligence also assesses a major threat from China with the J-36 project. According to official reports, in a possible war, Beijing could fire a swarm of drones from the aircraft.
According to the expert, the second stealth fighter observed, known as J-XDS or J-50, is smaller than the J-36, having only two engines and one seat. Like the first plane, this second appears to be a high-speed, high-altitude but low-maneuverable stealth fighter designed to “launch missiles before anyone detects it.”
Although Lop Nur has nuclear testing facilities, Renny Babiarz, a former analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, an arm of the United States Department of Defense, told the British newspaper that he discovered that, between 2020 and 2024, China developed a new specific area for this type of testing and may already be secretly using the site.
Images satellite analyzed by the expert revealed new drilling holes and horizontal tunnels, which can be used to detonate nuclear devices. In addition, support buildings and what appear to be storage facilities for highly explosive materials have been constructed.
