In 2023 and 2024, the PLA Rocket Force underwent a sweeping personnel purge. Senior commanders were removed. The political commissar was replaced. Multiple defense industry executives associated with missile programs disappeared from public view. Western observers initially read the purge as evidence of catastrophic problems: missiles filled with water instead of fuel, silos with non-functioning lids, corruption rotting the strategic deterrent. Two years on, a more measured reading is possible.