China is building a huge mobile artificial island — ready for the Apocalypse

The scientific research platform is designed for “long-term residence in any weather conditions”. But beneath its scientific layer hides a rare design, capable of withstanding nuclear explosions — and its eventual geopolitical use in disputed waters.

China is building a mega platform floating vessel intended for scientific research, designed to withstand nuclear explosions and which must be capable of project power unprecedented in contested oceans, says the .

The double-hull semi-submersible platform, which is expected to enter service in 2028, is the first mobile artificial island and self-sufficient in the world, having the capacity to house 238 people over 4 months without refueling.

Common displacement of 78 thousand tonsits mass is comparable to that of the Chinese Navy’s new advanced aircraft carrier (80,000 tons), second only to the North American Nimitz-class super-aircraft carriers (100,000 tons). By comparison, the International Space Station it has a displacement of just 420 tons, notes the SCMP.

But beneath its scientific layer hides a rare design, capable of resist nuclear explosionswhich uses a “sandwich” of metamaterial panels that transform catastrophic shocks in gentle compressions, explain the scientists involved in the project.

“This large deep-sea scientific facility was designed to ensure long-term residence in any condition meteorological”, wrote the team led by professor Yang Deqing, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), in a published on November 4th in Chinese Journal of Ship Research.

“Its superstructure includes critical compartments that provide emergency power, communications and navigation control – ensuring the absolutely vital protection against nuclear explosions for these spaces”, adds the researcher.

Officially designated the “Permanent Deep-Sea All-Weather Floating Research Facility,” or “High-Sea Floating Mobile Island” for short, the platform has been classified as a “national major scientific infrastructure” under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan.

The platform, which according to SJTU is the result of a decade of research and planning, will have 138 meters long and 85 meters wide. The main deck rises 45 meters above the waterline.

O double hull design allows it to operate in “sea state 7”, with waves of 6 to 9 meters, survive typhoons up to category 17 – the most intense tropical cyclones on the planet.

According to SCMP, what makes this platform revolutionary is the combination of permanent mobility. Unlike fixed research stations or conventional ships limited by fuel and supplies, this floating island can sail at 15 knots while more than a hundred researchers continue their research.

An offshore nuclear bunker

The platform was designed not only to withstand adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, but also nuclear explosions; is apparently prepared to survive the end of the world. How did Chinese scientists achieve it?

A nuclear explosion generates a supersonic shock wave which combines devastating reflected overpressure with high dynamic pressure, explains SCMP. Traditional protection is based on solid steel plateso – thick, heavy and space-consuming. For an installation that prioritizes weight efficiency and interior volume, conventional shielding is impractical.

Yang and colleagues have an elegant solution: a “sandwich bulkhead” — a three-dimensional structure of corrugated tubes with “negative Poisson’s ratio”, essentially a microscopic mesh of folded metal tubes, arranged in a precise geometric pattern.

This structure works like a “magic” sponge: when compressed, it contracts inwards, becoming denser and more resistant.

But the true genius aspect is what engineers call “quasiestatic conversion”: When a nuclear explosion hits conventional shielding, the energy arrives in the form of a violent spike – a hammer impact that peaks almost instantly and then dissipates.

The new metamaterial structure, however, behaves like a sophisticated zone of programmed deformation: as the shock wave compresses the corrugated tubes, these fold in a controlled and sequential mannerdistributing the impact across time and space. Instead of a hammer blow, the structure receives a constant push that can be managed.

The result is a “panel sandwich” with just 60mm thickapproximately that of a smartphone, whose effectiveness surpasses that of much heavier steel plates, which weighs slightly less than conventional armor and which takes up less space, solving the weight-volume paradox which has long plagued the engineering of protective materials.

What’s behind the project

The platform is officially intended for continuous deep sea observationstrials of next-generation marine equipment and exploration of seabed mining.

The installation promises to be a “paradigm shift” in ocean science, offering full-scale testing capabilities that no existing laboratory or ship can match.

Unlike traditional recovery of land from the seawhich are permanent, environmentally controversial and diplomatically and sensitively delicate, a mobile floating island offers presence without permanence.

The now designed mobile artificial island can be moved to contested waters for research purposes, maintain an ongoing presence and reposition as political situations evolve – all with lower costs and environmental impact than building artificial islands.

Although officially presented as a civil investigation platform, its design makes reference to Chinese military standard GJB 1060.1-1991relating to resistance to nuclear explosions, which indicates that those responsible for the project are prepare for the worst-case scenario: nuclear attacks.

Additionally, the anticipated operational areas for the platform potentially include disputed maritime areaslike . whose sovereignty is claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

The huge region, which includes sea and islands, is believed to be rich in deposits of oil and natural gas — which gives particular significance to one of the platform’s stated objectives: exploring “deep mining technologies”.