Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile factory at al-Duwadimi to build larger solid-fuel missiles that could fly farther or carry heavier payloads, according to two US researchers who analysed more than a year of commercial satellite images, Reuters reported on October 23.

Source: Reuters, Oct 23, 2026

The researchers, Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), assessed Planet Labs images of the complex, about 125 miles (200 km) west of Riyadh, taken between April 2025 and September 2026. They said the images show a new building that houses casting pits — wells in which a mixture of fuel ingredients is poured into missile motor casings and allowed to harden — flanked by walls intended to protect nearby structures from accidental explosions.

Source: Reuters, Oct 23, 2026

The new building is at least twice as large as the one believed to house the plant's existing casting pits, Lair and Duitsman said. A second new building could be used to store fuel ingredients or finished missile components, they said. The imagery “suggests that Saudi Arabia is expanding the infrastructure at the missile production complex, likely to produce larger missiles which could deliver larger payloads or reach longer ranges,” they wrote.

Source: FPRI assessment via Reuters, Oct 23, 2026

More capable missiles could help Saudi Arabia deter attacks by Iran and make its military more self-reliant, while possibly strengthening its position in its conflict with Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi fighters, Reuters reported. But they risk fuelling a regional missile race and could deepen opposition in the US Congress to a US-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement that has already raised proliferation concerns, according to the report.

Source: Reuters, Oct 23, 2026

The FPRI researchers assessed that roofing could be completed quickly, although fitting the casting equipment might take several months, and that production could begin as early as the end of the year — an assessment, not a Saudi announcement. The Saudi embassy and Information Ministry did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters said.

Source: FPRI via Clash Report; Reuters, Oct 23, 2026

For the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers who live in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, any step that widens the region's missile competition is watched closely, because the kingdom's cities, airports and energy sites have repeatedly come under missile and drone attack during the Yemen war.

Source: Reuters, Oct 23, 2026