The People’s Liberation Army support base at Doraleh, Djibouti, is no longer just a logistics stop. New high-frequency antenna arrays, satellite communications terminals, radomes, and local telecommunications infrastructure are turning it into a persistent intelligence and command hub. That matters because Camp Lemonnier, the United States’ main enduring military installation in Africa, sits only about 10–16 kilometres away. At that distance, geography gives China an unusually close view of American operations—and gives Washington a strong reason to develop an alternative at Berbera, Somaliland.

More Than a Naval Base

Doraleh’s technical upgrades give the PLA a broader command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance role across the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and western Indian Ocean. The base can support Chinese naval deployments, connect regional forces with headquarters, and contribute to space tracking and data relay. Its position near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait also places it beside one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

The most immediate concern, however, is proximity. Camp Lemonnier and Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport fall within the practical reach of line-of-sight radio-frequency collection. Even when military communications are encrypted, nearby sensors can still gather valuable information from transmission volume, timing,........

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