Ancestors and successors
If with fighters in China, the situation is ambiguous, then in the case of bombers - most likely not. That is, formally, they are. According to data from open sources, the Chinese Air Force and Navy have about 150 Xian H-6 aircraft of different versions. This vehicle is often referred to as a "strategic bomber". In fact, this is a copy of the old Soviet multipurpose aircraft Tu-16, which has never been a classic "strategist". And it could not be due to the limited combat radius, which was 3000 kilometers. For comparison: for the "old man" Tu-95, this figure exceeds 6,000 kilometers. The Tu-160 with the declared combat radius of 7300 kilometers can be considered the formal record holder, but there are many "buts" here, which, for example, relate to the speed of a winged vehicle. During supersonic flight, the radius will decrease. And it will drop strongly.
The Xian H-6 inherited all the main advantages and disadvantages from the Tu-16. However, the car still looks much more modern than its progenitor, and attentive air amateurs could even consider a new optical location station in the front lower part of the fuselage of some H-6s. Of course, the Chinese have expanded their arsenal of aviation weapons to include new missiles of their own design.
All this, of course, is good. But there is one problem. And it lies not even in the limited flight range of the H-6, but in the fact that the plane is obsolete. China, meanwhile, intends to move forward as quickly as possible.
It has long been no secret that the future of China's strategic aviation is inextricably linked to the aircraft known as the Xian H-20. This is an "invisible" strategic bomber, made according to the aerodynamic design of a flying wing. In simple terms, this is the Chinese analogue of the B-2 and the Russian PAK DA (which, however, is not yet in the hardware). The characteristics are unknown, however, according to the China Daily newspaper, the PRC military wants to get a bomber with a range of up to eight thousand kilometers, which gives every reason to think that the aircraft will be similar to the B-2 not only in appearance, but also in size, as well as in combat weight. load. It is not necessary to judge the degree of stealth at all. The reason for this lies in secrecy.
Mysterious guest
In general, there is no reason to doubt the reality of the existence of the program for the creation of the H-20. However, there is one more, and it has raised many questions. Back in 2015, it became known about the existence of a project of a mysterious stealthy Chinese bomber, which, according to the data presented by the Chinese, will have a maximum speed of 1600 km / h. Its range can allegedly reach almost 5,000 kilometers, and the ceiling will be 17 thousand meters. The main feature of the project is the widespread use of stealth technology. There is, however, one more "trick". According to reports, the aircraft will be able to carry air-to-air missiles and be able to stand up for itself in the sky. However, such a possibility, of course, will be purely optional. By the way, it should be said that the Russian PAK DA is also being developed taking into account the possibility of using defensive weapons. Quite an interesting trend, if you judge.
Pictures that appeared in the Chinese media a couple of years ago gave a general idea of what the new plane could be. According to them, the bomber will not be one of the versions of the already existing "invisible". They intend to execute the aircraft on a completely new basis. A notable feature will be the location of the crew members side-by-side, similar to how it was implemented on the F-111, Su-24 and Su-34. The total crew members, most likely, will also be two, as on other similar aircraft.
The news about a promising aircraft from the PRC could be considered a fake, if not for the data of the US Department of Defense Intelligence Agency, announced by the Western media quite recently. According to them, the bomber was named JH-XX: this is, of course, a symbolic designation. It is known that they want to equip the car with a radar station with an active phased antenna array, as well as a wide range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons. According to military experts from the United States, the plane will appear no earlier than 2025. When creating it, the Chinese intend to use the technologies previously worked out in the development of the J-20 and FC-31 fighters. The first, we recall, is already in the series, and the second is still being developed.
It's alive
The most difficult thing, oddly enough, is to define the concept. Apparently, this bomber will be a kind of mixture of a multifunctional fighter (in the modern sense of the term), a front-line bomber, a missile bomber and a "strategist". Whether such an aircraft is needed in practice is another question. It is worth saying that the classic "front-line soldiers" such as the already mentioned F-111 and Su-24 have practically died out, since their functions are quite successfully performed by multi-role fighters, such as the Super Hornet. The Russian Su-34 can be considered the swan song of front-line bombers. And do not forget that it was created not from scratch, but on the basis of the Su-27.
Nowadays, few people remember, but the Americans at one time wanted to create a highly specialized bomber FB-22 based on the F-22: for the reasons stated above, this idea was abandoned. Thus, the role for JH-XX cannot be clearly defined at this stage. If we speak in the most simple language, then, most likely, such an aircraft will simply not be needed, since the stealthy J-20 fighter will be able to perform tactical tasks, and the H-20, conventionally, strategic. We did not use the word "conditionally" by chance. The potential of modern intercontinental ballistic missiles and their naval "counterparts" - SLBMs - has long negated the role of the aviation component of the nuclear triad. And modern strategic bombers are, in fact, "flying arsenals" with a huge number of precision bombs and missiles.
And there are many questions here too. To serve as a platform for launching cruise missiles with conventional warheads, the vehicle must have a combat load no less than that of the B-1 or Tu-160. At the same time, the JH-XX will have a combat load that is close to or slightly higher than that of fighter aircraft. In any case, such a conclusion can be drawn if you carefully look at its estimated dimensions.
That is, the aircraft will be able to duplicate the functions of fighter-bombers, but not the functions of full-fledged "strategists". Do not forget about the rapid development of UAVs. Which will be able, if not to change the manned aircraft in the next ten to twenty years, then significantly squeeze it.
All this does not add the chances for the imminent birth of a new aviation complex. It is likely that the development of a new Chinese bomber will be abandoned, as the Americans once abandoned the FB-22. It cannot be ruled out that we are dealing with deliberate disinformation from the Chinese side. Presumably, the situation will clear up in the coming years.
