:Underground Great Wall of China
{{Short description|Hidden infrastructure housing hundreds of Chinese ICBMs}}
The Underground Great Wall of China ({{zh||s=地下长城|p=Dìxià Chángchéng}}) is the informal name for the 3,000 mile (5,000km) system of tunnels used by China to store and transport intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).{{Cite news|last=Wan|first=William|date=2011-11-29|title=Georgetown students shed light on China's tunnel system for nuclear weapons|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/georgetown-students-shed-light-on-chinas-tunnel-system-for-nuclear-weapons/2011/11/16/gIQA6AmKAO_story.html|access-date=2021-07-01|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web
| title = 探秘中国"地下长城" 战略导弹库可承受核弹攻击
| trans-title = Discover the Secretive "Underground Great Wall" Of China, Strategic Missile Armory That Can Withstand Nuclear Attack
| author = 黄子娟
| publisher = Yangtse Evening Post
| website = People's Daily
| date = 2009-12-13
| access-date = 2018-01-21
| url = http://military.people.com.cn/GB/8221/72028/76059/78907/10568269.html
| language = zh
| archive-date = 2018-01-22
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072859/http://military.people.com.cn/GB/8221/72028/76059/78907/10568269.html
| url-status = dead
}}
Description
Due to the great secrecy surrounding the tunnels, little information about them is publicly available. The tunnels allow for mobile ICBMs to be shuttled around to different silos by truck and rail, and possibly stored in reinforced underground bunkers. This greatly enhances the ICBM's chance of survival in a direct nuclear strike, which enables their use in a second strike unlike ICBMs based in static nuclear silos which are susceptible to a direct nuclear attack.
A report written by a Georgetown University team led by Phillip Karber conducted a three-year study mapping out China's complex tunnel system, which stretches 5,000 km (3,000 miles). The report determined that the size of the Chinese nuclear arsenal is understated and as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads may be stored in the tunnel network.{{Cite web|url=http://www.powerandpolicy.com/2012/01/31/chinas-underground-great-wall-subterranean-ballistic-missile/#.VlJzD3arSUk|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120221012827/http://www.powerandpolicy.com/2012/01/31/chinas-underground-great-wall-subterranean-ballistic-missile/#.VlJzD3arSUk|archive-date = 2012-02-21|title = China's underground Great Wall: subterranean ballistic missile}}[http://archive.defensenews.com/article/20130105/DEFREG02/301050003/New-U-S-Law-Seeks-Answers-Chinese-Nuke-Tunnels Defense News]{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} This hypothetical maximum storage or basing capacity along with Karber's own misconceived suggestions on fissile material,{{Cite web|url=http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/204799/collected-thoughts-on-phil-karber/|title=Collected Thoughts on Phil Karber|website=www.armscontrolwonk.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/china/underground-great-wall.htm|title=Underground Great Wall - China Nuclear Forces|website=www.globalsecurity.org}} resulted in Western media purporting that 3,000 warheads were actually in the facility. The Karber study went on to state that the tunnels are not likely to be breached by conventional or low-yield earth-penetrating nuclear weapons such as the B61-11.{{Cite web|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/12/14/2009121400292.html|title=China Builds Underground 'Great Wall' Against Nuke Attack|website=english.chosun.com}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://fas.org/nuke/guide/china/Karber_UndergroundFacilities-Full_2011_reduced.pdf Strategic implications of China's Underground Great Wall, Karber 2011.Hosted by FAS.PDF]
{{Coord missing|China}}