China has upgraded its military support base in Djibouti with new communications infrastructure that could strengthen the People’s Liberation Army’s ability to communicate with forces operating in the region and collect signals intelligence, according to a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The analysis, published September 17 by CSIS’s Hidden Reach project, is based on commercial satellite imagery and was authored by Matthew Funaiole, Brian Hart, Aidan Powers-Riggs and Douglas Comstock. The researchers identified two communications facilities that have appeared at the base since mid-2024.
The larger facility, located in the base’s southeastern section, includes a control building, three 30-meter high-frequency dipole antennas, additional antennas for very- and ultra-high-frequency communications, three satellite-communications dishes, probable 5G towers and a radome enclosing an unidentified system. A second facility in the northwestern part of the base contains additional high-frequency antennas and a similar radome.
CSIS researchers assess that the two sites likely form parts of a broader command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or C4ISR, system. They say the equipment would allow Chinese forces to maintain redundant, over-the-horizon communications with Chinese ships and aircraft operating in the region while maintaining communications with headquarters in China.
🧵 NEW: China’s military has upgraded its base in Djibouti, enhancing its operational and intelligence-gathering capabilities in the Middle East and Africa, write @HiddenReachCSIS experts.
More: https://t.co/ZWHgehHn5d pic.twitter.com/a2GnbrTk0Q
— CSIS (@CSIS) September 17, 2026
The researchers also say the equipment could support signals intelligence collection. While the satellite imagery cannot establish that passive intelligence collection is taking place, CSIS argues that the new systems could allow Chinese personnel to study the direction, origin, frequency and timing of military signals in the surrounding area, even when the underlying communications are encrypted.
The base, formally known as the PLA Support Base in Djibouti, is China’s only officially acknowledged overseas military base. It opened in 2017 and has supported Chinese naval operations in the Gulf of Aden, including missions involving the protection of commercial shipping.
Djibouti occupies a strategically important position near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the maritime chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The country also hosts military facilities operated by several other foreign powers, including the United States, France, Italy and Japan.
CSIS said the upgrades could have particular intelligence value because of increased military activity in the Middle East. The researchers pointed to conflicts and tensions in the Red Sea and around Iran that have brought significant U.S. military forces into the wider region.
The facilities may also provide China with additional information about military activity in Africa, where Beijing has extensive economic interests and expanding security ties, according to the analysis.
CSIS characterized the new infrastructure as part of a broader Chinese effort to develop overseas facilities capable of supporting operations and transmitting information back to China. The researchers said the Djibouti upgrades provide a persistent forward C4ISR capability covering substantial parts of the Middle East and Africa.
The analysis does not establish that the new systems are currently being used for intelligence collection, and CSIS notes that the precise functions of some of the equipment cannot be determined from publicly available satellite imagery. The findings instead represent the researchers’ assessment of the capabilities that the newly identified infrastructure could provide.