On January 30, 2019, People’s Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), published an interview with a military expert, Qian Qihu.
Qian Qihu was born in October 1937. He is a military engineer and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He won China’s 2018 Highest Science and Technology Award. According to the article, for more than 60 years, Qian has been working on protective engineering research and personnel training. He established China’s theoretical system of modern protective engineering and solved some key technical problems, including nuclear weapons’ airborne explosions, ground-contact explosions, ground- penetrating explosions and new ground-penetrating bombs.
Qian said, “our national defense projects, especially underground protection projects, are the cornerstone of the country’s active defense strategy, the last line of defense for national security, and an important guarantee for our peaceful environment.”
Qian also said, “In the information battlefield, there have been great developments of satellite reconnaissance and surveillance technology, as well as the application of precision-guided weapons. As a result, the bunker buster missiles equipped with a smart fuze has a higher hit ratio, stronger ground-penetration ability, and more destructive power. All these pose greater challenges to the protection project. Recently, a country has tested hypersonic missiles that have a strong penetration capability. It is said that no anti-missile system can prevent it. When the anti-missile system fails to intercept it midway, the role of the ground and underground protection works stand out.”
Source: People’s Liberation Army Daily, January 30, 2019
http://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2019-01/30/content_226530.htm