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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

China’s leading nuclear submarine designer Huang Xuhua awarded top science prize

  • President Xi Jinping presents 93-year-old with his second major honour in just over three months
  • Highest Science and Technology Award comes with a cash prize of US$1.15 million

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China’s leading nuclear submarine designer Huang Xuhua was presented with a top science award. Photo: Handout
Liu Zhen

One of China’s leading nuclear submarine scientists has been presented with one of the country’s highest honours for his work on the development of strategic weapons.

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Huang Xuhua, 93, was one of two people to receive the Highest Science and Technology Award of Year 2019 from Chinese President Xi Jinping at a grand ceremony on Friday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The prestigious award was Huang’s second in just three months, after he was given a Medal of the Republic in September, again for his work in advancing nuclear submarine technology.

The Chinese navy has two types of submarine capable of providing a sea-based nuclear deterrent – the Type 094A and the next generation Type 096, which is under development.

Once in service, the Type 096 will carry the country’s most advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) – the JL-3 – which itself is still in the development stage. The Type 094A is already in service and carries JL-2 missiles.

After completing an engineering degree in shipbuilding in 1949, Huang joined China’s inaugural nuclear submarine project in 1958. By the 1980s he had risen through the ranks to be chief designer on the country’s first nuclear-powered submarines.

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