Cold War era Malan Air Base was constructed in the late 1950s as part of China's
Two Bombs, One Satellite project. The nearby
Lop Nur site was chosen for
nuclear testing due to its remote location in the
Gobi Desert. From 1964 to 1996, China conducted about 45 nuclear tests at
Lop Nur, with Malan serving as the main control, support, and logistics base.
Aircraft and UAV testing In December 2019, satellite imagery revealed a large lineup of Chinese
unmanned aircraft, both operational and developmental, parked on the tarmac at Malan, underscoring that Malan had become a central hub for drone experimentation. In 2022, satellite images revealed the expansion of infrastructure at Malan, including new hangars, taxiways and facilities. A satellite image from May 2025 revealed a previously unseen, very large
stealth flying-wing unmanned aircraft at Malan, roughly in the same class as the
B-2 Spirit and larger than many known Chinese UAVs. ==See also==