China's Anti-Nuclear Capability

[rhino123]

Hi,

I am new here and don't know whether this had been posted before or not. It seemed that in most forums around the world, everyone is focusing on the nuclear arsenal of China, but I am kind of interested in China's Anti-Nuclear capability, the training their soldiers have in terms of surviving a nuclear strike against them. And do they have a second strike capability?:confused:

[QBZ957]

to be honest i dont think there are too much sources out there that even prove that China has any nuclear weapons, although its clear they do have several nuclear power plant, and of course right now all eyes are on North Korea with their testing of their ICBM's.

[rhino123]

to be honest i dont think there are too much sources out there that even prove that China has any nuclear weapons, although its clear they do have several nuclear power plant, and of course right now all eyes are on North Korea with their testing of their ICBM's.

huh? All along I thought China is a nuclear power in which that she do have nuclear weapon... such as the Dongfeng series of missiles. She was also one of the original five nuclear states to have nuclear weapons. Do I remember wrongly?:confused:

[QBZ957]

Not the entire DongFeng series is nuclear warheads though. And uh sry guess i assumed too quick cause i didnt find much with the searches i did, now that i typed in DongFeng there actually was. Sry and thxs man

[AssassinsMace]

"If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

I think it's safe to say that China has nuclear weapons and is a nuclear power.

[Sea Dog]

"If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

I think it's safe to say that China has nuclear weapons and is a nuclear power.

Yes. China detonated their first nuclear warhead in the 1960's. They have long had nuclear weapons. The DF-5 is their longest current ranged missile, and they have an array of short and medium ranged missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. This is all open source information and easily verified.

[swimmerXC]

Yes. China detonated their first nuclear warhead in the 1960's. They have long had nuclear weapons. The DF-5 is their longest current ranged missile, and they have an array of short and medium ranged missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. This is all open source information and easily verified.

DF-5A is their longest range missile

Hi,

I am new here and don't know whether this had been posted before or not. It seemed that in most forums around the world, everyone is focusing on the nuclear arsenal of China, but I am kind of interested in China's Anti-Nuclear capability, the training their soldiers have in terms of surviving a nuclear strike against them. And do they have a second strike capability?

If been to Chinese City's, most of them have underground bombbunkers or even small tunnels, it can help a little.... all the Heads in Beijing has their little secret tunnels...
TaiHei Mountain Range is assumed to hold some missiles...

to be honest i dont think there are too much sources out there that even prove that China has any nuclear weapons, although its clear they do have several nuclear power plant, and of course right now all eyes are on North Korea with their testing of their ICBM's.


Quantitatively and qualitatively, China's nuclear forces cannot compare with those of the United States, which has some 10,000 nuclear warheads with more than half of them operationally deployed. China has about 400 warheads. The strongest leg of its nuclear triad is its land-based ballistic missiles, but only 20 of its approximately 85 ballistic missiles have sufficient range to reach the continental United States.

Source (http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/060217.asp)

[rhino123]

Thanks guys, that's quite a bit of infor there.

I think I read it somewhere that US is well prepared for nuclear war, Manhatten Project, etc. Does China has something like that too? Tunnels seemed a bit flimsy though.

When nuclear war break out, I think that the entire place will be covered with radiation and stuffs like that, what do China had to contend these radiation? Is the PLA readied for this kind of warfare?

[akinkhoo]

most countries doesn't equip their forces with NBC protection. while most of their platfrom are only design with NBC to be available via upgrade kit; only a few specialized units get NBC. russia most likely have the largest percentage of forces with NBC installed already (only the soviet seriously considered surviving a nuclear war as a priority).

i believe china hasn't focus much into NBC. the surface fleet almost completely lack any NBC options... bascially if you get nuke, the force is like wipe out anyway... so is secondary protection important? unless we are in the tactical nuke scenario.

i foresee greater need for chemical and biological protection than radioactive. we see US going into conventional mother of all bomb than nuke; so cheaper chemical weapons are more likely to meet in battle than nukes.

[swimmerXC]

I think I read it somewhere that US is well prepared for nuclear war, Manhatten Project, etc. Does China has something like that too? Tunnels seemed a bit flimsy though.

When nuclear war break out, I think that the entire place will be covered with radiation and stuffs like that, what do China had to contend these radiation? Is the PLA readied for this kind of warfare?

Most US cities now a days don't even have airraid drills, chances are if a nuclear warhead is heading toward the US, you'll probably hear it on CNN before the military can do anything...
Like in James Bond M said, "Unlike the American's we perfer not to get our bad news from CNN." :roll:
Manhatten Project? You do know that Manhatten Project was the project name when they were first developing the nuclear bombs against Japan..
The way I see it, only the official and top brass of America or even any other countries have a chance of surviving..
Whats the point of getting rid of the radiation when your city is destoryed? It's just a waste of money, use it for relief..

And do they have a second strike capability?

FYI, even if China doesn't have ICBMs and her major cities are wiped out and can't strike back, they can just easily point a hundred IRBM or SRBM at Siberia or Western China and end the world as we know it... ;)
I think it's pretty safe to say that even the most insane (little Kim) or trigger happy (:D ) nuclear powers are scared to use nukes.

[rhino123]

[QUOTE=swimmerXC]
Manhatten Project? You do know that Manhatten Project was the project


Oops, my bad. Don't know what I am talking about when I posted that. Sorry.

[Finn McCool]

China does not have anti-nuclear capability, nothing near missle defence like the US is developing in the Interceptor system (as expensive and ineffective as it is) and THAAD. China does not have second strike capability. It needs more nuke subs, and more missles to hit targets intercontinentally. China does have a lot of mobile launchers, so that is an area it does have an advantage. I'm sure China does have a lot of tunnels and stuff too. During Mao's time, he ordered the building of dozens of tunnels to allow the nation's essential war industries to survive a nuclear strike that he feared would come after the US threatened to nuke China at the end of the Korean War. Some of those must still be around.

But ultimately, China's best protection against nuclear annihilation is its population's sheer size.

[PanAsian]

Well it's no good if the population continues to concentrate on the eastern coast. More dispersal, and more dispersal of developed assets are needed, both human and industrial.

[rhino123]

Well it's no good if the population continues to concentrate on the eastern coast. More dispersal, and more dispersal of developed assets are needed, both human and industrial.

I totally agreed with you. However I must point out that less than half of China is suitable to support large population. And there might be a shortage in resources especially water and oil.

These coupled with quite a poor infra-structure in the form of roads would also hinder the dispersion of the population.

[adeptitus]

China does not have anti-nuclear capability, nothing near missle defence like the US is developing in the Interceptor system (as expensive and ineffective as it is) and THAAD. China does not have second strike capability. It needs more nuke subs, and more missles to hit targets intercontinentally. China does have a lot of mobile launchers, so that is an area it does have an advantage. I'm sure China does have a lot of tunnels and stuff too. During Mao's time, he ordered the building of dozens of tunnels to allow the nation's essential war industries to survive a nuclear strike that he feared would come after the US threatened to nuke China at the end of the Korean War. Some of those must still be around.
But ultimately, China's best protection against nuclear annihilation is its population's sheer size.

IMO the PRC doesn't have effective secondary (retailatory) strike capability vs. the USA, but that's not true against all nuclear powers. For example nations within MRBM range, such as India and Pakistan, or possibly even Russia. The "gap" is in ICBM and SLBM, but not in SRBM & MRBMs.

China's missile defense capability has increased quite a bit over the past decade. It's not on the same level as THAAD, but not defenseless either. For example:

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2006032829898
A People’s Liberation Army’s bulletin in China reported Sunday that China succeeded in test launching an interceptor missile similar to the U.S. Patriot missile.
(This might be a HQ-17 test)

http://www.missilethreat.com/news/chinese_md.html
See articles titled:
Chinese Missile Defenese in Reponse to Taiwan
China Developing Two versions of FT-2000 missile defense system
China to purchase additional S-300 interceptors
etc.

Besides imports, China also produce its own S-300 based systems (according to Missile threat.com, with license from Russia), such as the HQ-10 and HQ-15, with 70% domestic hardware and 30% imported (Russian?) hardware.

[chicket9]

tHIS thread has been initially off topic...i mean...IS CHINA A NUCLEAR POWER? HELL YES!

The topic is ANTI-NUCLEAR, and thank you for the person who finally mentioned the SAMs China has....now this forum can get moving...

China has nukes...bottom line.

China has no MD as capable as the US, that could theoretically intercept and shoot down missiles from half way around. However, even so, this system has not been tested before, and I heard US only possesses 20-30 of these interceptor missiles. That is probably enough to defend the Eastern Seaboard from a nuclear onslaught if the missiles all work effectively. In addition, the number is so far sufficient in taking down most DF-5 ICBMs (as the Chinese have only an estimated 20) but once the DF-31 enters service, it could turn the tables around.

Chinese defense against ICBM is probably virtually nonexistent. Best defense now is purely the fact that China possesses nuclear second strike capability. But perhaps in the near future, with advancements in space technologies and radars, an early warning system could be set up in the next few decades.

Against SRBMs however, I'd say China has a good chance in defending against these. The S-400, S-300 and HQ-9 are all capable of making ballistic missile interceptions. Even the late variant HQ-2 is claimed to do so...though this is highly doubtful against more advanced ballistic missiles.

[akinkhoo]

China has nukes...bottom line. it is, unless if those nuke can't hit their targets. china's SBN capability is limited even today, and the mobile launcher are not very effective and aging. the silos are limited in numbers and can't really do enough damage on their own. honestly, china having second strike option available today is still shaky.

yes, those new missile are greatly needed...

[QUOTE]Chinese defense against ICBM is probably virtually nonexistent...

...Against SRBMs however, I'd say China has a good chance in defending against these.[QUOTE]
i believe SAM capable of intercepting ballistic missile should be able to handle all kind of ballistic missiles the same. provided the SAM are setup in protecting that area (limited by range). Why is there a difference?

[renmin]

it is, unless if those nuke can't hit their targets. china's SBN capability is limited even today, and the mobile launcher are not very effective and aging. the silos are limited in numbers and can't really do enough damage on their own. honestly, china having second strike option available today is still shaky.

yes, those new missile are greatly needed...

[QUOTE]Chinese defense against ICBM is probably virtually nonexistent...

...Against SRBMs however, I'd say China has a good chance in defending against these.[QUOTE]
i believe SAM capable of intercepting ballistic missile should be able to handle all kind of ballistic missiles the same. provided the SAM are setup in protecting that area (limited by range). Why is there a difference?I would like to mention that SRBMs go through the same phase as ICBMs. Drop stages, warhead goes into suborbit and drops on target. easiest way to blow up a nuke, shoot another missile at it.