File image. (Saudi Armed Forces)
Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile production complex to manufacture larger solid-fuel missiles capable of flying farther or carrying heavier payloads, Reuters reported on October 23, citing two United States researchers who analyzed commercial satellite imagery.
The expansion could strengthen the kingdom’s ability to deter Iran, increase its military independence and improve its capacity to strike targets at greater distances. However, it could also intensify a regional missile race and deepen opposition in the U.S. Congress to a proposed U.S.-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement.
Satellite images taken by Planet Labs between April 2025 and September 2026 show new construction at the al-Duwadimi complex, about 200 kilometers west of Riyadh, according to researchers Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based research organization.
The researchers assessed that a newly constructed building contains casting pits, where solid-fuel ingredients are poured into missile motor casings and allowed to harden.
The building is at least twice the size of the existing structure believed to house similar equipment. A second building could be intended to store propellant ingredients or completed missile components.
Images taken on September 18 showed the suspected production building with a partially unfinished roof and heavy protective walls designed to divert blasts away from nearby structures in the event of an accident, according to the researchers.
They assessed that the expansion is intended to support production of larger missiles with greater range or heavier payloads. Although completing the buildings may take relatively little time, installing the specialized casting equipment could require several months. The facility could begin producing missiles by the end of the year.
Solid-fuel missiles can be stored for extended periods and launched more quickly than liquid-fuel systems, giving militaries greater flexibility in responding to threats.
The researchers and experts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the CNA research organization told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s existing missile arsenal suggests the al-Duwadimi complex relies on Chinese technology. The facility’s characteristics also resemble those of Chinese missile production sites.
Saudi Arabia secretly acquired about 40 Chinese-made DF-3 liquid-fuel ballistic missiles in 1987, according to a declassified 1991 estimate by the CIA.
Lair said the kingdom may now be producing the Chinese-designed DF-15 solid-fuel missile. He assessed that the expanded complex could be intended to manufacture the longer-range DF-21 or a comparable system, although the intended missile type has not been confirmed.
Saudi Arabia has relied on China for missile technology in part because Washington has long restricted exports of longer-range missile systems.
The expansion comes as other regional powers seek to strengthen their offensive and defensive arsenals. Decker Eveleth, a CNA analyst who has tracked construction at the Saudi complex using commercial satellite imagery, told Reuters that similar military buildup is taking place in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
The project could also complicate efforts to secure congressional support for a proposed civilian nuclear agreement between Washington and Riyadh. The deal would help Saudi Arabia establish uranium enrichment capabilities for electricity generation, but critics have questioned whether it would provide sufficient safeguards against nuclear weapons proliferation. Saudi Arabia has denied plans to develop nuclear weapons.
The report came amid a heated confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen. It also came as tensions are building up again between the U.S. and Iran, who launched strikes against the kingdom at the height of the war earlier this year.
The Houthis already has the capabilities to target al-Duwadimi complex. Iran could also strike the facility if full-on war resumes.
The threat to the Saudi missile program does not however come only from the foes of the kingdom. Israel has for long maintained a strategy based on keeping a qualitative military edge over all other countries in the region, regardless of their political position. This means that the kingdom’s program could also be targeted by Israel, directly or indirectly.
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when saudi arabia outlives its usefulness it will become part of greater israel . to fight iran or become a mule for future nukes may be a mistake. the us congress is a zionist joke.