WEBVTT

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New satellite images reveal China&#x27;s heavily restricted

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Area 51 is undergoing massive new construction,

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with 4 enormous aircraft hangars being built

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next to this giant new runway that&#x27;s more than 3 miles long,

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which puts it among the longest in the entire world.

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Which is why American analysts are now focused on this base,

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trying to figure out what new capabilities Beijing is testing here and

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what it means for how US forces operate across the Pacific.

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Exactly like the American Area 51.

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China&#x27;s version of the top secret facility is also in a

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remote desert deep in the western part of their country.

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And it also has multiple security layers trying

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to prevent us from finding our answers here.

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The People&#x27;s Liberation Army even originally assembled

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a patrol codenamed the Hunting Team,

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whose mission was to search the forbidden desert surrounding this top secret base,

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looking for any foreign saboteurs and enemy airborne infiltrators.

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According to Chinese language local reporting,

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the hunting team,

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was so convinced that they might die,

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that the members wrote farewell letters to their families in advance

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before heading out into the desert.

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At one point,

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the patrol became lost near the ancient ruins of Luan

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and nearly died trying to find its way back,

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which would suck because nobody wants to get KIA by the desert.

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The local county government there in China recently

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put up a warning that any unauthorized travel,

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any photography here,

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are completely forbidden inside the military-managed parts.

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Of Lopneur.

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It also warned of severe penalties like being thrown in prison,

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I mean re-education camps.

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The comparison with America&#x27;s Area 51 becomes even more useful,

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I think,

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when you think about what was actually tested there.

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The United States Groom Lake originally helped

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America develop the U-2 and the stealth

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fighter aircraft that would transform American intelligence

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and air combat since the Cold War.

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For decades,

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the American base tested aircraft that would change military history,

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while at the same time managing.

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To keep their actual performance of these systems

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hidden.

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So the big question here is,

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can China be able to accomplish the same thing with their version of Area 51?

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That level of secrecy has been there since the beginning.

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When China started building the complex in the late 1950s,

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they ordered engineers and soldiers to be sent deep

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into the desert to prepare a huge military installation

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without being told its purpose.

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A Chinese government account says that the

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early survey team spent months Checking the geology

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before an officer demanded to know why everyone was working

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without understanding their mission.

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After permission came down from above,

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the commanders finally revealed that China was selecting

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a site to test its first atomic bomb.

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The soldiers reportedly at that point,

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the Chinese soldiers embraced and cried it out,

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making it one of the more emotional commander&#x27;s

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intent briefings that I&#x27;ve ever heard of.

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But America&#x27;s own Area 51 was partly chosen because it

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sat right next to the same kind of restricted nuclear.

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Test ranges

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that were built in the 1940s.

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So the parallel goes past just the desert real estate here.

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So establishing the site in China took an enormous

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logistical effort involving roughly 60,000 workers and soldiers,

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many of whom had to struggle with poor housing and limited water out there,

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because it hadn&#x27;t been developed like how

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America&#x27;s western regions had been.

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Chinese accounts,

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local language sources

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say that two brothers assigned to the same program there,

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didn&#x27;t even discover that they&#x27;ve been working.

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The same facilities

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until they accidentally met years later.

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Chinese state secrets at its best.

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And if you look at the map of this area,

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you can see three distinct parts of China&#x27;s so-called nicknamed Area 51.

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You have the original Meilan headquarters,

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a support complex there,

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then the historical nuclear test sites,

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and the newer experimental aircraft runway near Lop Nur.

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Meilan&#x27;s modern drone airfield is separate again from all of that,

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from the giant runway,

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but they all belong to the same.

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story of China&#x27;s secret testing infrastructure.

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So what are they getting up to here secretly?

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Well,

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around 2016,

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a runway more than 3 miles long started to appear

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near the old nuclear test region.

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It&#x27;s even longer than the runway that NASA built to land the space shuttle,

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which raises an interesting question,

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I think.

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It kind of narrows down the sort of aircraft that China could be testing here.

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Early images of the location showed very little pavement and a lone hangar,

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but in June 2021,

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Maxar,

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The satellite company photographed about a dozen larger concrete buildings

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that were being constructed near it.

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Analyst Ankit Panda

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suggested that the structures could signal more permanent military presence,

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including room for personnel and support equipment.

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Analysts suspected China was preparing to use the base for something much bigger,

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and the newest satellite images have

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revealed an enormous expansion of this facility

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that could finally explain what China&#x27;s secretly

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developing out here in the desert.

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To answer what China&#x27;s building,

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let&#x27;s look at China&#x27;s Area 51 newest satellite images

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because the construction sheds light on their plan.

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By 2023,

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a larger main apron and new hangar had appeared at the base.

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Additional shelters were added since then,

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as the pace of building quickly accelerated

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and the scale of the operation started to really resemble

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a kind of permanent national experimental flight test center.

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An Air and Space Forces magazine.

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Investigation found that over about a six-month period in 2026,

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the site added about 60,000 square feet of hangar space

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and more than 300,000 square feet of other facilities.

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What does that mean?

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Well,

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analyst Jay,

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Michael

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Dam

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described the increase as effectively doubling the size of the test base,

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which is very extra.

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Brady Africk,

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uh,

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independent satellite analyst,

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his time lapse lets us watch the construction progress frame by frame,

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and we can see.

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Through it,

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that when the military is pouring this much concrete,

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I think it&#x27;s likely making a decision that&#x27;s gonna outlast

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any single prototype that happens to be parked outside at the second,

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at that moment.

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Then,

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on August 27th,

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2026,

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new satellite images revealed four of these giant new hangars

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that were under construction along the southern part of the airfield.

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These hangars here are

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the center of all the controversy.

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Three of them measured about 260 ft across and 130 ft deep,

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which is.

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Enough width to accommodate some exceptionally large aircraft

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and give test crews even extra room to service the sensitive equipment that

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is sheltered underneath.

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But which kind of aircraft?

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That is the multi-million dollar intelligence question,

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because the answer has some major consequences,

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I think.

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And we get our first hint

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as to what aircraft it might be by looking at the new supporting infrastructure,

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which is very revealing,

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I think.

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Because a new parallel taxiway allows aircraft to reach the runway.

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with less backtracking.

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Near the northern end,

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we see a circular pad was added about 400 ft across,

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which could be used for engine runs or aircraft turnarounds.

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Analysts have also identified several possible fuel storage

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tanks and additional service facilities and ammo dumps.

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Geospatial researcher Damien Simon says that those

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additions support a higher rate of launches,

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recoveries,

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and sustained sorties for testing.

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The boring bland mayonnaise logistics buildings are often the most.

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Important evidence to work backward from

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when you&#x27;re trying to figure out what someone&#x27;s doing there.

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Some analysts also point out that a future shelter near the circular pad

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could help crews move an experimental aircraft out of view

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when image satellites approach and potentially do

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a kind of scoot and hide arrangement,

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now you see me,

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now you don&#x27;t kind of thing.

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It&#x27;s like,

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uh,

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you know,

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if you have

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no car parked in your garage,

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satellite images

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could work backward from there and figure out that

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maybe you have a,

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a car because you have a garage.

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The perfect analogy there.

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That&#x27;s still an interpretation of the layout though,

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but the idea explains what we see at modern secret bases.

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They have to conduct testing

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while managing an entire schedule of cameras that are operating overhead.

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So Area 51 in America used to worry about Soviet reconnaissance,

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and now China&#x27;s Area 51 at Lop Nur

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is being watched by companies that sell satellite pictures

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to pretty much anyone with a credit card and,

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And a poor social credit score with determination,

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but,

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but not with poor credit score.

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You need to have good credit score in order to order those satellite images.

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They&#x27;re very expensive.

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But there is one aircraft that matches the size and infrastructure developments.

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That could explain the construction here and could explain why

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analysts are so hyper fixated on this location right now,

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I think,

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because the world has been waiting years

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to see this specific aircraft

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at a secret airfield just like China&#x27;s Area 51 at Lop Nur.

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It&#x27;s called their H-20 stealth bomber,

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and it could be one of their most consequential projects ever.

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American military intelligence

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estimates that the H-20 has a range exceeding 10,000 kilometers,

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while

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supposedly carrying both conventional or nuclear weapons if you enjoy doomerism.

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Right now,

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China&#x27;s bomber fleet still depends very heavily on their old H-6,

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which is an aircraft that&#x27;s descended from the Soviet TU-16,

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which first flew in the 1950s.

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But the Chinese H-20 is expected to use a kind of

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stealthy flying wing configuration.

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It&#x27;s very similar to the concept of America&#x27;s B-two Spirit bomber.

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Very similar,

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like,

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like stop copying my homework similar.

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America is the only country in the world right now that

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operates a kind of strategic stealth bomber fleet en masse.

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So the change to the balance of power would be worth talking about

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because it would give Beijing a kind of

262
00:10:31.385 --> 00:10:34.526
new way to threaten American military bases in the region

263
00:10:34.666 --> 00:10:36.726
and approach these bases from different,

264
00:10:37.426 --> 00:10:38.145
unreliable,

265
00:10:38.265 --> 00:10:39.145
unexpected.

266
00:10:39.263 --> 00:10:40.133
Directions

267
00:10:40.263 --> 00:10:42.994
which would complicate the job of defending against them.

268
00:10:43.263 --> 00:10:46.383
So speculation in the Oceanate open-source intelligence

269
00:10:46.383 --> 00:10:48.653
sphere is that China&#x27;s Area 51,

270
00:10:48.984 --> 00:10:50.854
these new huge hangar bays,

271
00:10:51.064 --> 00:10:53.854
and the buildup is working on this H20.

272
00:10:54.104 --> 00:10:54.893
But the thing is,

273
00:10:55.223 --> 00:10:57.463
China has been promising this for over a decade now.

274
00:10:57.583 --> 00:10:58.664
Back in 2016,

275
00:10:58.703 --> 00:11:00.684
a senior Chinese Air Force commander

276
00:11:00.903 --> 00:11:02.463
publicly confirmed the H20,

277
00:11:02.504 --> 00:11:03.544
and then two years later,

278
00:11:03.583 --> 00:11:05.723
they released promotional footage teasing it,

279
00:11:05.864 --> 00:11:07.984
and then everyone waited another three years.

280
00:11:08.062 --> 00:11:11.541
The Chinese Air Force to release this fancy recruitment

281
00:11:11.541 --> 00:11:15.101
video featuring another enormous aircraft hidden beneath a sheep,

282
00:11:15.382 --> 00:11:17.392
aping the American B-21 reveal.

283
00:11:17.702 --> 00:11:18.262
By this point,

284
00:11:18.421 --> 00:11:20.502
Beijing was blueballing everyone running the

285
00:11:20.502 --> 00:11:23.041
world&#x27;s longest military product launch campaign.

286
00:11:23.382 --> 00:11:25.581
But the titillating teasing didn&#x27;t stop there,

287
00:11:25.622 --> 00:11:26.742
and by 2024,

288
00:11:26.822 --> 00:11:29.351
the PLA Air Force Deputy Commander Wang Wei

289
00:11:29.661 --> 00:11:32.952
said that the H-20 would be revealed very soon.

290
00:11:33.262 --> 00:11:34.461
But by December of that year,

291
00:11:34.541 --> 00:11:36.742
the Pentagon estimated that China&#x27;s H20.

292
00:11:36.859 --> 00:11:41.159
was in serious trouble with technical problems and may not debut

293
00:11:41.429 --> 00:11:43.369
until sometime in the 2030s,

294
00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:45.479
all that for no release.

295
00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:48.219
But while everyone was waiting for China&#x27;s stealth bomber,

296
00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:51.940
investigators discovered evidence that this enormous runway might

297
00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.710
actually be used for something far stranger,

298
00:11:55.020 --> 00:11:56.010
because on September 4th,

299
00:11:56.099 --> 00:11:56.780
2020,

300
00:11:56.979 --> 00:12:00.559
China launched a classified reusable experimental spacecraft,

301
00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:02.539
and two days later announced that it had

302
00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:05.539
safely returned to Earth at an undisclosed location.

303
00:12:06.218 --> 00:12:07.978
But amateur satellite tracker,

304
00:12:08.218 --> 00:12:09.257
including Marco Lambroe,

305
00:12:09.297 --> 00:12:13.478
reconstructed its orbit and found that the return path

306
00:12:13.697 --> 00:12:16.757
lined up perfectly with the massive Labneur runway.

307
00:12:16.937 --> 00:12:20.778
Then a Planet Lab satellite passed overhead around the estimated landing time on

308
00:12:20.778 --> 00:12:23.497
September 6th and photographed these small objects

309
00:12:23.497 --> 00:12:25.158
and support vehicles near the strip,

310
00:12:25.418 --> 00:12:28.158
so Beijing had kept the landing site out of the announcement,

311
00:12:28.338 --> 00:12:28.677
but

312
00:12:28.848 --> 00:12:30.567
the satellites had other ideas there.

313
00:12:30.848 --> 00:12:31.648
Four years later,

314
00:12:31.737 --> 00:12:32.778
on November 29,

315
00:12:32.898 --> 00:12:33.807
2024,

316
00:12:34.057 --> 00:12:36.736
another The satellite captured a mysterious white object

317
00:12:36.736 --> 00:12:39.075
around 30 ft long at the same airfield.

318
00:12:39.455 --> 00:12:45.286
Its shadow prompted comparisons to America&#x27;s mysterious X-37B space plane.

319
00:12:45.616 --> 00:12:49.596
Though analysts couldn&#x27;t rule out mock-up or an unrelated experimental vehicle.

320
00:12:49.976 --> 00:12:52.885
Neither image proves the exact purpose of the runway though,

321
00:12:53.166 --> 00:12:58.846
but together they give us a reason to look past the delayed H-20 bomber analysis.

322
00:12:59.096 --> 00:13:00.955
And what investigators found next

323
00:13:01.116 --> 00:13:03.135
had much more immediate implications.

324
00:13:03.254 --> 00:13:05.013
For a potential war in the Pacific.

325
00:13:05.333 --> 00:13:05.653
Right now,

326
00:13:05.734 --> 00:13:08.773
there&#x27;s someone sitting in a dark office at the Pentagon who

327
00:13:08.773 --> 00:13:12.484
spent their entire career analyzing this Chinese Area 51 site,

328
00:13:12.814 --> 00:13:15.754
probably shaking his head about all the stuff that I&#x27;ve gotten wrong so far.

329
00:13:16.174 --> 00:13:18.653
But what we do know is that in December 2024,

330
00:13:18.773 --> 00:13:22.593
videos started circulating of two entirely new Chinese stealth aircraft

331
00:13:22.693 --> 00:13:26.513
that were making test flights near the factories associated with Chengdu

332
00:13:26.653 --> 00:13:27.533
and Cheongyang.

333
00:13:27.693 --> 00:13:29.513
These are the aviation enthusiasts

334
00:13:29.693 --> 00:13:31.893
that gave them these unofficial names of the.

335
00:13:32.151 --> 00:13:33.731
36 and the J50.

336
00:13:33.971 --> 00:13:34.971
And the strange thing is,

337
00:13:35.052 --> 00:13:35.552
I think,

338
00:13:35.771 --> 00:13:36.791
about these aircraft

339
00:13:36.932 --> 00:13:39.291
is that their designs indicate China&#x27;s preparing

340
00:13:39.291 --> 00:13:41.591
for a very different kind of air war

341
00:13:41.731 --> 00:13:44.642
than the one American fighter pilots have been training for.

342
00:13:44.851 --> 00:13:47.651
The larger Chengdu J36 is weird,

343
00:13:47.851 --> 00:13:48.361
especially.

344
00:13:48.651 --> 00:13:51.892
Satellite imagery revealed a wingspan of about 65 ft

345
00:13:51.892 --> 00:13:55.521
with 3 jet engines and this enormous delta-shaped wing.

346
00:13:55.851 --> 00:13:58.911
All that internal space could accommodate additional fuel,

347
00:13:59.211 --> 00:14:00.711
got advanced sensors in there.

348
00:14:00.849 --> 00:14:03.309
A large missile being carried under the aircraft

349
00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:04.229
that can be

350
00:14:04.390 --> 00:14:05.349
hidden inside

351
00:14:05.469 --> 00:14:07.400
to keep those stealth characteristics.

352
00:14:07.650 --> 00:14:12.179
And there may be a very specific reason China wants a stealth fighter this enormous,

353
00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:13.289
because in the Pacific,

354
00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:16.030
one of America&#x27;s military&#x27;s biggest problems is,

355
00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:16.330
of course,

356
00:14:16.489 --> 00:14:17.130
distance.

357
00:14:17.330 --> 00:14:21.349
And American fighter jets operating from bases in Japan or even further away

358
00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.840
depend heavily on that aerial refueling tankers,

359
00:14:25.010 --> 00:14:26.109
a capability that really

360
00:14:26.210 --> 00:14:27.390
only America has

361
00:14:27.530 --> 00:14:29.169
at the scale that it has it.

362
00:14:29.728 --> 00:14:31.168
Giant refueling fleet.

363
00:14:31.487 --> 00:14:33.627
So those tankers are enormous aircraft,

364
00:14:34.007 --> 00:14:37.208
but they don&#x27;t have stealth capabilities or really any defensive

365
00:14:37.208 --> 00:14:40.557
systems that the fighters that they&#x27;re supporting do have.

366
00:14:40.848 --> 00:14:43.007
So according to the airpower analyst Justin

367
00:14:43.007 --> 00:14:45.228
Brock at the Royal United Services Institute,

368
00:14:45.768 --> 00:14:50.547
China&#x27;s military planners have recognized this vulnerability of the vulnerable

369
00:14:50.968 --> 00:14:52.307
American refuelers,

370
00:14:52.398 --> 00:14:54.687
and they&#x27;ve invested heavily in ways to threaten

371
00:14:54.687 --> 00:14:57.557
the American support aircraft at greater distances.

372
00:14:57.728 --> 00:15:00.185
This is where Something like the J36

373
00:15:00.515 --> 00:15:01.726
becomes very interesting to me,

374
00:15:01.806 --> 00:15:02.296
I think,

375
00:15:02.645 --> 00:15:03.885
to me personally at least,

376
00:15:03.966 --> 00:15:05.375
because I think it shows,

377
00:15:05.565 --> 00:15:07.885
and its size shows that it could carry

378
00:15:07.885 --> 00:15:10.786
enough fuel to operate further into the Pacific

379
00:15:11.046 --> 00:15:15.546
while potentially carrying larger long-range air to air missiles internally.

380
00:15:15.765 --> 00:15:18.385
So imagine an American F-35 fighter jet

381
00:15:18.526 --> 00:15:20.106
flying toward a combat zone

382
00:15:20.445 --> 00:15:22.466
when its aerial refueling tanker

383
00:15:22.645 --> 00:15:26.116
is suddenly threatened by a Chinese stealth fighter hundreds of miles away.

384
00:15:26.395 --> 00:15:27.166
The American command.

385
00:15:27.843 --> 00:15:31.794
Now has to plan differently and consider moving those tankers further back,

386
00:15:32.044 --> 00:15:33.883
which means that the fighters have less fuel

387
00:15:33.883 --> 00:15:36.713
and less time available to accomplish their missions.

388
00:15:37.004 --> 00:15:39.783
That&#x27;s why some analysts believe that the J-36

389
00:15:40.083 --> 00:15:43.544
could be particularly dangerous to American refueling aircraft

390
00:15:43.883 --> 00:15:48.083
and their airborne radar planes and other high-value support aircraft.

391
00:15:48.283 --> 00:15:50.684
It&#x27;s part of the reason why America&#x27;s sixth generation

392
00:15:50.684 --> 00:15:53.963
fighters are all focused on doubling their range.

393
00:15:54.283 --> 00:15:55.883
But China was developing another.

394
00:15:56.041 --> 00:15:57.841
Experimental design at the same time.

395
00:15:58.081 --> 00:15:59.841
You&#x27;ve got the Shenyang J50,

396
00:15:59.961 --> 00:16:03.322
which is smaller and features a tailless wing with this unusual

397
00:16:03.322 --> 00:16:06.661
moving wing tips and what appears to be thrust vectoring engines.

398
00:16:06.882 --> 00:16:10.952
So we have satellite images of seeing this here at Area 51 for China.

399
00:16:11.202 --> 00:16:14.021
Those moving surfaces could help control the aircraft

400
00:16:14.322 --> 00:16:16.002
without the vertical stabilizers that

401
00:16:16.002 --> 00:16:18.581
normally create additional radar reflections.

402
00:16:19.002 --> 00:16:19.192
So,

403
00:16:19.242 --> 00:16:20.351
aviation analysts,

404
00:16:20.552 --> 00:16:21.661
including Justin Brock,

405
00:16:21.921 --> 00:16:24.762
have indicated that the J50 may be optimized.

406
00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.559
For air superiority missions,

407
00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:29.340
potentially operating closer to Chinese forces,

408
00:16:29.479 --> 00:16:31.380
while the much larger J-36

409
00:16:31.630 --> 00:16:34.280
provides kind of greater range and payload.

410
00:16:34.520 --> 00:16:35.909
There&#x27;s another important detail here,

411
00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:36.440
I think,

412
00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:40.340
the J-36 could eventually serve as an airborne command aircraft

413
00:16:40.669 --> 00:16:42.630
for their smaller unmanned fighters.

414
00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:44.739
That&#x27;s because its larger body

415
00:16:44.880 --> 00:16:48.960
is able to accommodate more powerful radar systems and communication equipment

416
00:16:49.119 --> 00:16:50.549
that&#x27;s needed to coordinate,

417
00:16:50.760 --> 00:16:50.869
say,

418
00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:51.859
a drone across

419
00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.419
an enormous battle space.

420
00:16:53.950 --> 00:16:56.820
But that would give Chinese commanders another way

421
00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:00.359
to locate enemy aircraft and distribute targeting information

422
00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:02.919
while operating in areas where American

423
00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:06.140
forces are using very sophisticated jamming equipment

424
00:17:06.439 --> 00:17:08.199
to cut off their communication.

425
00:17:08.750 --> 00:17:11.810
So now we&#x27;re starting to see why Beijing is experimenting

426
00:17:12.069 --> 00:17:13.930
with two very different designs.

427
00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:16.829
And this brings us back to China&#x27;s Area 51,

428
00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:18.510
when on August 27th,

429
00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:19.348
2025,

430
00:17:19.430 --> 00:17:22.239
a commercial satellite photographed the J36

431
00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:24.250
parked at the Lopner runway,

432
00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:27.270
hundreds of miles from its original factory in Chengdu.

433
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:28.959
Just 17 days later,

434
00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.390
another satellite captured the J50 at the exact same military installation.

435
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.260
So these are two of China&#x27;s most advanced experimental combat aircraft

436
00:17:37.670 --> 00:17:40.469
from competing aerospace manufacturers in their country,

437
00:17:40.709 --> 00:17:42.140
and both had traveled

438
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.390
to one of the country&#x27;s most isolated military airfields.

439
00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:47.709
At a secret testing facility like this,

440
00:17:48.150 --> 00:17:49.520
engineers can put their aircraft.

441
00:17:49.615 --> 00:17:51.336
Through demanding flight profiles

442
00:17:51.456 --> 00:17:53.156
and work on sensitive systems

443
00:17:53.475 --> 00:17:55.125
away from any civilian observers.

444
00:17:55.215 --> 00:17:58.066
The military can evaluate different prototypes

445
00:17:58.215 --> 00:17:59.776
under controlled conditions,

446
00:17:59.906 --> 00:18:01.806
as the design continues to evolve.

447
00:18:02.015 --> 00:18:07.036
And new footage from September 2026 shows that the J36 program is still changing,

448
00:18:07.336 --> 00:18:11.495
with redesigned engine exhaust and additional features that could accommodate.

449
00:18:11.671 --> 00:18:13.991
Sophisticated radar and communications equipment.

450
00:18:14.232 --> 00:18:17.661
Analysts believe several prototypes may now be flying.

451
00:18:17.952 --> 00:18:20.891
That&#x27;s especially of note because the Chinese military looks like

452
00:18:21.072 --> 00:18:24.511
they&#x27;re using this secret testing infrastructure to develop technologies

453
00:18:24.511 --> 00:18:27.732
that extend its airpower much further into the Pacific.

454
00:18:27.991 --> 00:18:31.291
They aim to fundamentally change how close American forces

455
00:18:31.472 --> 00:18:33.631
can safely operate to China&#x27;s coastline.

456
00:18:33.869 --> 00:18:36.729
And the fact that both prototypes appeared at Lop Nur

457
00:18:37.189 --> 00:18:39.550
suggests that this secret installation is becoming

458
00:18:39.550 --> 00:18:41.410
one of the places where China&#x27;s trying

459
00:18:41.630 --> 00:18:43.170
to turn those ambitions

460
00:18:43.310 --> 00:18:46.369
into a kind of operational military aircraft.

461
00:18:46.829 --> 00:18:47.319
But,

462
00:18:47.630 --> 00:18:49.650
now if we move west on the map

463
00:18:49.790 --> 00:18:52.089
to Milan&#x27;s separate military airfield,

464
00:18:52.469 --> 00:18:55.609
a 2024 open nuclear network satellite study

465
00:18:55.949 --> 00:18:58.729
described it as an active PLA Air Force facility

466
00:18:58.989 --> 00:19:02.260
about 10 kilometers from the old Milan support complex.

467
00:19:02.540 --> 00:19:04.286
This is when the Aircraft would appear

468
00:19:04.807 --> 00:19:08.487
that would answer some questions about what might be going on at the base.

469
00:19:08.906 --> 00:19:12.827
A May 2025 image showed an unidentified flying wing

470
00:19:12.827 --> 00:19:15.207
with an estimated span of around 170 ft.

471
00:19:15.587 --> 00:19:17.347
Compared to the American B-2 bomber,

472
00:19:17.427 --> 00:19:17.817
it&#x27;s,

473
00:19:17.977 --> 00:19:19.026
it&#x27;s kind of comparable.

474
00:19:19.146 --> 00:19:22.827
It&#x27;s thick central body and exceptionally long outer wings

475
00:19:23.067 --> 00:19:25.737
prompted the nickname the Monster of Milan.

476
00:19:25.987 --> 00:19:28.587
The proportions of the craft indicate a design that

477
00:19:28.587 --> 00:19:31.587
could fly at higher altitude for extended periods,

478
00:19:31.947 --> 00:19:32.467
although it&#x27;s.

479
00:19:32.583 --> 00:19:36.063
Exact sensors and military role remain highly classified.

480
00:19:36.323 --> 00:19:39.053
Analysts were still able to work backwards a little bit here.

481
00:19:39.303 --> 00:19:42.323
The thing looks like somebody started designing a stealth bomber

482
00:19:42.703 --> 00:19:43.933
without inviting a pilot.

483
00:19:44.183 --> 00:19:49.083
A March 2026 satellite image then photographed two huge flying wing drones

484
00:19:49.343 --> 00:19:50.803
that were together on the apron,

485
00:19:50.984 --> 00:19:54.683
alongside evidence of another fighter sized unmanned-typed aircraft.

486
00:19:54.943 --> 00:19:55.784
By September,

487
00:19:56.264 --> 00:19:59.463
outside photographs of the larger WZ-X

488
00:19:59.703 --> 00:20:01.823
that was in flight revealed more about its.

489
00:20:01.941 --> 00:20:04.041
Strange stepped wing configuration.

490
00:20:04.301 --> 00:20:06.740
Milan has the larger high-security hangars that are

491
00:20:06.740 --> 00:20:09.720
capable of keeping test aircraft undercover between flights.

492
00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:13.360
So that helps explain why these types can spend years in development

493
00:20:13.701 --> 00:20:17.041
before a public image finally gets out onto the onlines.

494
00:20:17.260 --> 00:20:21.781
A giant flying wing drone could eventually stay aloft for hours while

495
00:20:21.781 --> 00:20:25.411
watching the movement of aircraft and ships far from China&#x27;s coastline.

496
00:20:25.661 --> 00:20:27.620
Smaller stealth drones could scout ahead of

497
00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:30.531
piloted fighters or carry weapons themselves.

498
00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:31.181
Now think back.

499
00:20:31.297 --> 00:20:32.618
To those American tankers.

500
00:20:32.697 --> 00:20:35.838
If a Chinese drone can find an American refueling aircraft

501
00:20:36.297 --> 00:20:37.647
farther out over the Pacific,

502
00:20:38.598 --> 00:20:41.657
it might help cue a fighter or a missile unit to threaten it.

503
00:20:41.817 --> 00:20:43.787
Even forcing that tanker to retreat

504
00:20:44.057 --> 00:20:47.118
could shorten how long the F-35 can stay in the fight.

505
00:20:47.297 --> 00:20:48.258
To make that work though,

506
00:20:48.458 --> 00:20:51.177
China would need to connect reconnaissance aircraft and

507
00:20:51.177 --> 00:20:54.397
secure data links and shooters under this kind of

508
00:20:54.537 --> 00:20:55.828
electronic umbrella,

509
00:20:55.937 --> 00:20:57.397
which is a lot harder than just

510
00:20:57.618 --> 00:20:59.937
drawing a couple of arrows on a PowerPoint slide.

511
00:21:00.177 --> 00:21:00.537
We haven&#x27;t.

512
00:21:00.895 --> 00:21:03.194
proof that the new drones can carry out that kind of mission,

513
00:21:03.295 --> 00:21:03.935
but Milan,

514
00:21:04.015 --> 00:21:06.255
this site here at Area 51 for China,

515
00:21:06.464 --> 00:21:10.005
is exactly the kind of place where engineers are trying to solve that.

516
00:21:10.214 --> 00:21:13.515
A satellite captured a J-16 fighter jet

517
00:21:13.765 --> 00:21:16.734
among an assortment of unmanned aircraft at Milan,

518
00:21:16.974 --> 00:21:20.324
and the image raised the possibility of manned unmanned teaming,

519
00:21:20.334 --> 00:21:24.255
where a pilot and a group of drones might someday work as one formation,

520
00:21:24.574 --> 00:21:26.834
which is the cornerstone of sixth-generation

521
00:21:26.935 --> 00:21:27.895
aircraft combat.

522
00:21:28.214 --> 00:21:28.675
Because then,

523
00:21:28.864 --> 00:21:29.935
Planet Labs captured,

524
00:21:30.241 --> 00:21:32.511
2 JG-11 or

525
00:21:32.812 --> 00:21:36.391
so-called sharp sword stealth attack drones at the same base.

526
00:21:36.572 --> 00:21:39.151
A flying wing shape and internal weapons capacity

527
00:21:39.322 --> 00:21:42.852
make the GJ-11 a very different capability compared to the

528
00:21:42.852 --> 00:21:45.842
cheap quadcopters that we all see on the battlefield lately.

529
00:21:46.011 --> 00:21:48.031
And that&#x27;s the larger implication here

530
00:21:48.212 --> 00:21:49.202
of these images.

531
00:21:49.491 --> 00:21:53.991
China could eventually use unmanned aircraft to find targets and crude fighters

532
00:21:54.251 --> 00:21:56.812
to act on that information at distances where

533
00:21:56.812 --> 00:21:59.291
America&#x27;s own support aircraft are most vulnerable.

534
00:21:59.649 --> 00:21:59.999
So,

535
00:22:00.009 --> 00:22:02.538
how well Beijing can connect those aircraft

536
00:22:02.538 --> 00:22:05.029
under combat conditions is the question that we

537
00:22:05.338 --> 00:22:07.678
can&#x27;t answer from a simple satellite photo though.

538
00:22:07.968 --> 00:22:10.438
There&#x27;s a strange discovery from China&#x27;s top secret

539
00:22:10.438 --> 00:22:13.448
Area 51 military testing ranges in the region

540
00:22:13.649 --> 00:22:15.808
that suggests that China&#x27;s trying to change the

541
00:22:15.808 --> 00:22:19.068
way US forces operate in the entire Pacific and

542
00:22:19.269 --> 00:22:20.838
how the Pacific is contested.

543
00:22:21.009 --> 00:22:21.808
In 2021,

544
00:22:21.879 --> 00:22:26.389
satellite images revealed a full-size outline of an American aircraft carrier

545
00:22:26.649 --> 00:22:27.999
sitting in the middle of the desert.

546
00:22:28.288 --> 00:22:29.725
You may have Already heard about this,

547
00:22:29.845 --> 00:22:33.475
but developments since then are strange because if you look at the railway,

548
00:22:33.715 --> 00:22:37.345
you can see the moving target measured approximately 75 m long

549
00:22:37.686 --> 00:22:39.906
and sat on tracks about 6 m wide.

550
00:22:40.286 --> 00:22:42.806
This would allow Chinese engineers to test how missile

551
00:22:42.806 --> 00:22:46.586
sensors acquire and follow a moving ship-shaped object.

552
00:22:46.806 --> 00:22:48.765
The US military has been able to test their

553
00:22:48.765 --> 00:22:51.426
weapons systems frequently in combat in the Middle East,

554
00:22:51.765 --> 00:22:52.566
and in Ukraine,

555
00:22:52.645 --> 00:22:54.956
they send weapons systems there and they get data back.

556
00:22:55.206 --> 00:22:58.036
But China hasn&#x27;t had that type of opportunity or they

557
00:22:58.083 --> 00:23:01.392
Haven&#x27;t been in major combat operations in many decades,

558
00:23:01.762 --> 00:23:03.483
so this is their next best option,

559
00:23:03.522 --> 00:23:04.123
it seems.

560
00:23:04.363 --> 00:23:05.562
In February 2022,

561
00:23:05.672 --> 00:23:08.583
satellite imagery revealed that a missile had struck the center

562
00:23:08.883 --> 00:23:13.223
of a destroyer-shaped target that was positioned near a replica harbor pier.

563
00:23:13.483 --> 00:23:15.672
The target was subsequently dismantled.

564
00:23:15.963 --> 00:23:19.343
Then satellite photographed an even more elaborate replica

565
00:23:19.483 --> 00:23:21.682
that was modeled after the USS Gerald R.

566
00:23:21.792 --> 00:23:22.322
Ford.

567
00:23:22.522 --> 00:23:26.682
But the strangest recent discovery happened just in September 2026

568
00:23:26.922 --> 00:23:27.282
when satellite.

569
00:23:27.439 --> 00:23:32.160
Flight analyst Brady Arick identified a Mack F-35 and a

570
00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:37.260
Mack F-16 fighter jets alongside mock Patriot air defense equipment

571
00:23:37.439 --> 00:23:39.459
at another Xinjiang testing site.

572
00:23:39.709 --> 00:23:43.869
There was even a replica of Japan&#x27;s E-767 airborne radar aircraft,

573
00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:46.199
which is just very unusually specific,

574
00:23:46.310 --> 00:23:47.500
oddly specific

575
00:23:47.760 --> 00:23:50.439
target because Japan is the only country operating that model.

576
00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:51.619
It&#x27;s very suspicious.

577
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.160
Back in 1981,

578
00:23:53.199 --> 00:23:55.640
the F-117 stealth attack aircraft

579
00:23:55.959 --> 00:23:56.680
made its first flight.

580
00:23:57.207 --> 00:23:58.386
America&#x27;s Area 51,

581
00:23:58.396 --> 00:24:01.146
and then it entered operational service in 1983.

582
00:24:01.477 --> 00:24:05.016
Yet the US military didn&#x27;t publicly acknowledge it until 1988.

583
00:24:05.156 --> 00:24:05.796
For five years,

584
00:24:06.036 --> 00:24:07.977
America&#x27;s adversaries had to plan around a weapon

585
00:24:08.237 --> 00:24:10.707
whose real capabilities they could barely assess.

586
00:24:10.957 --> 00:24:12.067
That&#x27;s the precedent here,

587
00:24:12.077 --> 00:24:12.817
I think for

588
00:24:12.927 --> 00:24:14.577
what China might be doing today

589
00:24:15.036 --> 00:24:17.947
at this so-called Area 51 that it&#x27;s nicknamed.

590
00:24:18.197 --> 00:24:20.967
We can identify the outlines of like the J36,

591
00:24:21.116 --> 00:24:23.067
J50 from these satellite images,

592
00:24:23.396 --> 00:24:25.256
but it&#x27;s difficult for us to detect

593
00:24:25.636 --> 00:24:26.933
how far They can fly

594
00:24:27.114 --> 00:24:30.234
or how many weapons systems they can hold inside or whether their

595
00:24:30.234 --> 00:24:33.734
crews and drones can really share targeting information during a fight.

596
00:24:34.193 --> 00:24:37.894
Those answers are buried in test data that nobody outside those

597
00:24:38.193 --> 00:24:39.943
classified programs get to see.

598
00:24:40.193 --> 00:24:43.053
The newest hangars being built might be able to tell us something

599
00:24:43.473 --> 00:24:43.813
about

600
00:24:43.953 --> 00:24:45.884
what aircraft is preparing to go there,

601
00:24:46.034 --> 00:24:48.514
and there&#x27;s another possibility that makes this even more interesting,

602
00:24:48.553 --> 00:24:49.093
I think.

603
00:24:49.514 --> 00:24:53.563
China knows commercial satellites repeatedly pass over its military bases,

604
00:24:53.713 --> 00:24:56.490
and American air power analysts have Raise the possibility

605
00:24:56.901 --> 00:25:01.020
that Beijing might deliberately let certain prototypes be photographed,

606
00:25:01.421 --> 00:25:03.691
showing the world an unfamiliar stealth aircraft

607
00:25:04.071 --> 00:25:07.151
could intimidate potential adversaries or exaggerate how

608
00:25:07.151 --> 00:25:09.451
close a program is to becoming operational

609
00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:10.531
and could change

610
00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:12.130
how much money America

611
00:25:12.590 --> 00:25:14.051
invests in counters

612
00:25:14.191 --> 00:25:15.331
to something that isn&#x27;t even real.

613
00:25:15.711 --> 00:25:17.390
It might even draw attention away from

614
00:25:17.390 --> 00:25:20.181
experiments happening behind closed hangar doors.

615
00:25:20.510 --> 00:25:23.140
So when you see these four massive hangars in the desert,

616
00:25:23.390 --> 00:25:24.801
we have to remember that every image

617
00:25:25.128 --> 00:25:27.167
tells us only what happens to be

618
00:25:27.348 --> 00:25:29.887
on the outside when the satellites pass over.

619
00:25:30.147 --> 00:25:32.657
And the question I come back to through all of this

620
00:25:32.907 --> 00:25:36.427
is how much of China&#x27;s secret air force have we actually discovered?

621
00:25:36.508 --> 00:25:40.027
How much of their secret experimental capabilities have we really seen?

622
00:25:40.307 --> 00:25:41.628
If you want to learn more about this,

623
00:25:41.697 --> 00:25:43.547
you can check out this video here

624
00:25:43.547 --> 00:25:46.407
about what the Chinese military local language reports

625
00:25:46.787 --> 00:25:48.647
say they learned from the war in Iran

626
00:25:48.998 --> 00:25:51.488
or this playlist on Chinese analysis here.

627
00:25:51.628 --> 00:25:54.108
I&#x27;m Chris Capy and I&#x27;ll see you in the next transmission.
