China builds antenna station with area nearly 5 times larger than New York City

China last week completed a project to build an earthquake warning and mineral detection antenna complex after 13 years of construction, the station is nearly five times larger than New York City. However, many experts believe that this project could be used for military purposes, helping to communicate with strategic submarines far away while keeping their movements secret, according toSCMP.

The location of the antenna complex is not public, but some anonymous researchers revealed that it covers an area of ​​3,700 km²located in the central provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Henan. The project was carried out by the 724th Research Institute of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, a supplier of communications and electronic warfare equipment to the Chinese navy.

The antenna array can emit ultra-low frequency (ELF) radio waves in the 0.1-300 Hz range, well below the human hearing threshold. The thousands of kilometers of ELF wavelengths allow data to be transmitted through the Earth's crust and ocean floor, where seawater typically blocks conventional radio communications.

A researcher said the antenna complex could send messages to submarines 3,500 km away, equivalent to the distance from China to Guam, a strategic US air force base in the Pacific.

"This facility will be important if war breaks out. It allows Chinese submarines to maintain their underwater stealth capabilities, but is limited in data transmission speed and is not compatible with surface ships," said Chen Xiaobin, a researcher at the China Earthquake Administration.

However, this project has also encountered many objections due to concerns about the effects of ultra-low frequency radio waves. The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed that ELF is likely to cause cancer in humans if exposed for a long time.

Before China, only Russia, the US and India possessed ELF submarine communication facilities, with Washington's antenna complexes operating at 76 Hz.