Imagery shows Saudi missile plant expanding, FPRI says

TLDR

• FPRI researchers say Planet Labs imagery shows two new buildings at al-Duwadimi, likely for larger missiles.¹²
• The suspected casting building is at least twice the size of the one believed to house existing pits.²³
• Riyadh has not confirmed the buildings' purpose, and FPRI says a larger missile cannot be confirmed without more evidence.¹³

FPRI researchers Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman say commercial satellite images show Saudi Arabia expanding its solid-propellant missile plant near al-Duwadimi, in an analysis published on 23 October that Reuters reported the same day.¹²

Why it matters: the finding is an inference from construction features, not a sighting of any missile. The researchers read deep pits, blast-diverting walls, lightning arrestors and relative building size to judge what the buildings are for.¹²

Driving the news:

• Planet Labs imagery from April 2025 to September 2026 shows ground clearing and excavation for a suspected storage building from April 2025, and work on a probable casting building from late April or early May.¹²
• An image of 12 December 2025 shows two deep, roofless pits in the casting building, per Reuters; FPRI puts them at about 5 to 6 metres per side.¹²
• An 18 September 2026 image shows the roof partly missing and two blast-diverting walls being installed on the north and south sides.¹²
• FPRI is less sure about the second building, which it judges a store for precursor materials or finished components.¹

By the numbers:

• At least twice the size of the building believed to house the plant's existing casting pits.²³
• Reuters says the facility could start producing missiles as early as the end of the year.²

The big picture: FPRI says Saudi Arabia has produced ballistic missiles at al-Duwadimi since late 2021, with Chinese help, and that DF-15A wreckage found in Yemen in September prompted its survey of known sites.¹ Lair said, per Reuters, that the kingdom may now be producing the DF-15 and that the expansion is likely for the longer-range DF-21 or a similar missile.²

The other side: FPRI says it is unclear what missiles the plant makes now, and that the larger building could instead raise output, since a pit might cast several smaller motors at once.¹ Janes, which reviewed the analysis for Reuters, said the buildings "may suggest" expanded capacity or longer-range development.² The Saudi embassy and Information Ministry did not respond to Reuters.²

Single-source note: the imagery analysis is FPRI's alone. Reuters restates it, with review by IISS, CNA and Janes, and Times Now rewrites Reuters. CNA's Decker Eveleth says he has tracked the construction in commercial imagery and concurs, per Reuters, but the images were not independently reviewed here.¹²³