Deeply Buried Facilities: Implications for Military Operations

Abstract : The problem in the early twenty-first century is that deeply buried underground facilities are becoming an increasingly important part of the defense establishments in many states. These facilities allow states to conceal the personnel, equipment, and command and control functions that are essential to the successful prosecution of a war. In general, these facilities can protect a state's most critical governmental and military functions and contribute to victory during war, or at least make it more difficult for the adversary to destroy critical military capabilities. There are numerous historical examples in which states have used underground facilities in warfare, including the use of underground manufacturing facilities by the Germans in World War II to conceal and protect valuable industry from destruction. During the Vietnam War, North Vietnam developed an extensive system of underground tunnel for concealing transportation routes, storage facilities, and temporary troop containment areas Since the beginning of the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union located their intercontinental ballistic missiles and associated command and control centers in underground sites in order to increase their survivability against nuclear attack. The continuing evolution of underground facilities has provided increasing levels of concealment and protection for a state's critical military components.1