China shocks US and allies by conducting first triple nuclear strike experiment; how will this technology push Beijing ahead of others?

New Delhi: China is working on a new technology to destroy the enemy’s underground bases and bunkers. It has been named ‘Triple Nuclear Strike’. Let’s find out what this technology is and how it could give the US and its allies sleepless nights.

Multiple attacks at same location

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, PLA engineers have experimentally tested warheads that can be programmed to attack the same location multiple times.

This scenario underscores a persistent challenge in modern warfare: even the most powerful conventional weapons may fail to eliminate deeply buried, hardened underground targets, adds the report.

Why need such a weapon?

In June, the US military carried out an aerial attack on Iranian nuclear installations, dropping several massive bunker-busting bombs on a single target. While US officials claimed that these sites were completely destroyed, some reports suggested that the core of the installations may have survived. This challenge of modern warfare demonstrates that even the most powerful conventional weapons can fail to destroy deeply buried, hardened underground targets.

How will this new nuclear weapon work?

Chinese scientists say they are conducting experiments to see what would happen if nuclear weapons were used instead of bunker buster bombs. Could multiple warheads strike a single location in quick succession?

This research by Chinese scientists was published in Explosion and Shock Waves on September 10. This suggests that scientists are developing smaller nuclear weapons that, through simultaneous detonations, could completely destroy the enemy’s underground targets.

Where is this new weapon being developed?

The research was led by Xu Xiaohui, associate professor at the PLA Army Engineering University in Nanjing. It details the development of the world’s first laboratory system capable of analysing the effects of high-yield nuclear explosions deep underground.

HIGHLIGHTS

• China has shocked the world by conducting the first triple nuclear strike experiment.
• China is working on a new technology to destroy the enemy’s underground bases and bunkers.
• China has named it ‘Triple Nuclear Strike’.
• PLA engineers have tested warheads that can attack the same location multiple times.

In June, the US military carried out an aerial attack on Iranian nuclear installations, dropping several massive bunker-busting bombs on a single target. While US officials claimed that these sites were completely destroyed, some reports suggested that the core of the installations may have survived.