China18 September, 20262 min read
China Upgrades Djibouti Base With New Antennas To Monitor Bab Al-Mandeb Signals
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China upgraded Djibouti base with new antennas and communications equipment to boost surveillance. Two new communications complexes added since mid-2024, expanding PLA signals intelligence.
Djibouti base gets upgrades
China has updated its military base in Djibouti, a move that a report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said would enhance the Chinese military’s ability to monitor military activity across the Middle East and Africa. The CSIS report, described by Reuters, said commercial satellite imagery showed China installed new antennas, satellite communications equipment and other assets at the base, which it described as China’s only formally acknowledged overseas military base. The upgrades included two new communications compounds that appeared at the base since mid-2024, which CSIS said likely form part of a broader intelligence and military command architecture.
Reuters said the type and orientation of the base’s new equipment is varied, enabling transmission and detection across a wide range of signals and frequencies. The base sits near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and opened in 2017, serving as a key hub for Chinese naval operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, according to Reuters.
Signals intelligence and denials
CSIS said the new facilities would strengthen communications between Chinese forces operating in the Middle East and Africa and military headquarters in China, while also potentially enabling the Chinese military to monitor the activities of other militaries operating nearby. Reuters quoted CSIS saying the base’s new equipment is varied, “enabling transmission and detection across a wide range of signals and frequencies,” and said it could provide “a much more robust picture of the operating environment in the region.” The report also said it was not possible to determine whether the base was actively intercepting communications from the imagery alone, but it argued China could potentially derive useful information even from encrypted military communications.
In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the “state referred to,” according to the West Asian outlet that cited a ministry response. The same ministry response, as quoted in that outlet, said China has always been a “maker of international peace and a contributor to global development,” and would continue to adhere to principles of mutual respect and equality.
Regional bases and stakes
Reuters said the Djibouti base’s location places it near other foreign military facilities, noting that the United States, France, Italy and Japan all operate bases less than 10 miles (16 km) from China’s. The report said conflicts involving the Houthis, Iran, the US and Israel have brought substantial military activity into the region, increasing the potential value of intelligence collection from the base. Reuters also said CSIS believed the facility could support Chinese efforts to expand its footprint in Africa, where Beijing has steadily increased both economic and security engagement.
“The United States, France, Italy and Japan all operate bases less than 10 miles (16 km) from China’s.”
The West Asian outlet further framed the same CSIS assessment by saying the escalation linked to the Houthi movement, Iran, the United States, and Israel increased military activity and raised the potential value of intelligence capabilities provided by the Chinese base in Djibouti. That outlet also repeated CSIS’s estimate that since mid-2024 two new communications facilities appeared inside the base, likely part of a broader structure for intelligence gathering and command-and-control.