News- World: Chinese military researchers have experimented on simultaneous nuclear detonations to create a far greater destructive force.

Media reported on Sunday that the new Chinese study published in the peer-reviewed journal Explosion and Shock Waves describes a groundbreaking laboratory simulation of multiple nuclear warheads striking the same target in quick succession.

Chinese military engineers used a new technique called similitude theory to shrink the power of massive nuclear blasts into small, carefully controlled lab experiments.

Conducted by a team of military researchers, the experiment examined how consecutive detonations could combine the destructive energy to create a far greater demolition force than a single blast.

The military researchers in the team took a significant step toward understanding – and potentially enabling – a rapid, multi-warhead nuclear strike.

The test suggests that China’s military scientists are exploring ways to magnify the degree of destruction in future weapons beyond conventional single-strike scenarios.

The military research team --  which was headed by Xu Xiaohui, an associate professor at the People’s Liberation Army’s Army Engineering University in Nanjing -- described in its study how three warheads striking the same target in rapid sequence could dramatically increase destructive power.

‘Until now, most nuclear earth-penetration studies had examined only single warhead impacts, based on the long-held belief that one powerful bunker-buster would be enough to collapse or destroy hardened underground facilities.

However, Xu’s team found that new low-yield, precision-guided warheads could be set to hit the same spot in a tight “cluster” or “focused” pattern, producing far more damage than single blasts.

Until recently, though, such coordinated multi-point nuclear strikes were only an idea, not something tested in real experiments.

In order to conduct the experiment, Xu’s team incorporated a new vacuum chamber system that can safely copy the effects of huge explosions at a much smaller scale and lower cost.

Using similitude theory, the researchers shrink the power of massive nuclear blasts into small, carefully controlled lab experiments.

At the heart of the system is a small explosive setup that uses a two-stage high-pressure gas gun to shoot tiny projectiles into pressurized glass spheres filled with simulated blast gas.

The new technique used in the Chinese military engineers’ experiments created a quick, controlled release of energy similar to a nuclear detonation.

The study results showed that a triple strike quadrupled the damage area, concluding that multi-point attacks do significantly more destruction than conventional nuclear attacks.

Xu’s team concluded that by comparing simulations with prototype nuclear tests, deeply buried multi-point explosive sources show markedly higher cratering efficiency than single‑point blasts – supporting coordinated multi‑warhead earth‑penetration strategies.

Source: Press TV