China seems to have added a fresh dimension to the military strategy of “area denial,” of limiting an opponent’s freedom of action within a specific area, mainly associated with the Navy, by making it easily usable by the Army.   

Chinese scientists claim to have developed a “non-nuclear hydrogen bomb” which, when exploded, will make the impacted areas too hot for the enemy forces to occupy and remain in.

This bomb is non-nuclear and weighs approximately 2 kg (4.4 lbs). It is a hydrogen-based explosive device in a controlled field test, triggering devastating chemical chain reactions without using any nuclear materials.

It could trigger massive heat and fire over a prolonged duration, causing extensive damage, and is far more potent than traditional TNT-based bombs.

If a report in the South China Morning Post is to be believed, the Chinese researchers have successfully detonated it, generating a fireball exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than two seconds.

Incidentally, this bomb has been developed by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) 705 Research Institute, which is known for its work in underwater weapon systems.

Unlike traditional nuclear bombs, this device uses a magnesium-based solid-state hydrogen storage material known as magnesium hydride, which is capable of storing more hydrogen than pressurised tanks.

Once activated, the magnesium hydride undergoes rapid thermal decomposition, releasing hydrogen gas that ignites into a sustained fireball exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius for over two seconds, 15 times longer than equivalent TNT blasts.

This combustion results in extensive thermal damage, sufficient to melt aluminum alloys, and allows for precise control over blast intensity, achieving uniform destruction across vast areas.

Apparently, in a paper published in the Chinese-language Journal of Projectiles, Rockets, Missiles and Guidance, Wang Xuefeng, the team leader of the defense scientists who conducted the test explosion of the bomb, has pointed out how hydrogen gas explosions ignite with minimal ignition energy, have a broad explosion range, and unleash flames that race outward rapidly while spreading widely.

The chain reaction begins when detonation shock waves fracture magnesium hydride into micron-scale particles, exposing fresh surfaces, according to the study. Thermal decomposition rapidly releases hydrogen gas, which mixes with ambient air. Upon reaching the lower explosive limit, the mixture ignites, triggering an exothermic combustion reaction.

This liberated heat further propagates magnesium hydride decomposition, creating a self-sustaining loop until fuel exhaustion – a synergistic cascading of mechanical fracturing, hydrogen release, and thermal feedback, according to the paper.

“Hydrogen gas explosions ignite with minimal ignition energy, have a broad explosion range, and unleash flames that race outward rapidly while spreading widely,” said Wang, adding “this combination allows precise control over blast intensity, easily achieving uniform destruction of targets across vast areas”.

The test involved a series of experiments demonstrating the weapon’s directed energy potential. Under controlled detonation, the peak overpressure reached 428.43 kilopascals at a distance of two meters from the bomb. This was roughly 40 per cent as strong as a comparable TNT explosion, but the heat it unleashed reached far beyond what TNT can achieve.

Wang’s team believes that the bomb would be ideal for tasks like area denial, making impacted areas too hot to occupy for a time. The combustion can inflict intense, far-reaching thermal damage, with the heat dispersing uniformly across wide areas.

In other words, the PLA now, through this bomb, could deny the enemy access to key routes by incinerating stretches of road, to cripple essential services by targeting power stations or communications hubs, or to strike a specific cluster of equipment or personnel without destroying an entire region.

The bomb is also said to be adept at incinerating targets, such as vehicles and other equipment. The weapon could be used to burn through defensive structures or destroy objects, such as swarms of drones. It could also have potential applications as a fuel source for things like submarines or ships.

One of the noteworthy features of this bomb or weapon is that since it does not use nuclear materials,  it does not come under restrictions as outlined in international nuclear treaties.

The key distinction between this bomb and a nuclear one is that unlike in the case of the latter which relies on the process of nuclear fission (atomic bombs) or fusion (hydrogen bombs), where atomic nuclei split or fuse to release massive amounts of energy, producing both a powerful shockwave and intense radiation, China’s new device does not involve any nuclear reactions.

Instead, it relies on a chemical reaction involving magnesium hydride to release hydrogen gas, which ignites in air to create an intense heat without producing radiation or the far-reaching effects of a nuclear explosion.

Of course, the Chinese military leaders have not revealed so far that this non-nuclear hydrogen bomb will be used. But one thing is sure, and that is the fact that this weapon adds to China’s expanding lineup of advanced energy-based arms.

It also aligns with China’s broader effort to modernize its military with green technologies.