PLAAF & PLANAF H-6 Long Range Bomber thread

[LKJ86]

H-6K

 

[LKJ86]

H-6K

 

[LKJ86]

Some guy (maybe Japanese ) posts this:

And then, a Chinese fan posts that:

Just for fun!

 

[LKJ86]

 

[Ultima Thule]

we need a real pics bro not a fan art @LKJ86

 

[LKJ86]

we need a real pics bro not a fan art @LKJ86

You are right.
It was posted by PLAAF.

 

[Beast]

Some guy (maybe Japanese ) posts this:

And then, a Chinese fan posts that:

Just for fun!

The fan art is wrong. In 1978, there is no H-6K with solid nose and increased inlet size for a more powerful turbofan engine and six pylon on the wings. That time has only the old badger which is heavy, shorter range, smaller payload and non sophisticated avionics on board.

 

[LKJ86]

 

[clarkgap]

https://thediplomat.com/2018/04/revealed-chinas-nuclear-capable-air-launched-ballistic-missile/

China is developing and has been flight-testing a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) along with a new long-range strategic bomber to deliver it, The Diplomat has learned.

According to U.S. government sources with knowledge of the latest intelligence assessments on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, China has conducted five flight tests of the unnamed missile. The U.S. intelligence community is calling the new missile the CH-AS-X-13.

The missile was first tested in December 2016 and was most recently tested in the last week of January 2018, according to one source. In recent years, the directors of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) have made reference to this nuclear-capable ALBM in their two most recent on-record worldwide threat assessments.

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The two most recent tests of the system involved aerial launches off a modified H-6K strategic bomber capable of being refueled while in the air.

The new bomber, dubbed the H6X1/H-6N by the U.S. intelligence community, has been modified from standard variant H-6s for the ALBM delivery mission. The modifications have been made by Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, the manufacturer of all H-6 bomber variants since the late-1950s. The H6X1/H-6N may have been the subject of speculation in August 2017, when an image of an unidentified H-6 variant appeared on Chinese social media.

The CH-AS-X-13, meanwhile, is a two-stage, solid-fuel ballistic missile with a 3,000 kilometer range; it is likely a variant of the DF-21 medium-range ballistic missile. The missile may use lighter weight composite materials in its airframe to reduce the necessary carry weight for the bomber.

The H6X1/H-6N is assessed to have a combat radius of nearly 6,000 kilometers — a significant improvement from older H-6 variants. As a system for nuclear delivery, the CH-AS-X-13 on the H6X1/H-6N, assuming a launch from the edge of the bomber’s combat radius, will be capable of threatening targets in the contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska.

According to a source who spoke with The Diplomat, the U.S. intelligence community assesses that the CH-AS-X-13 will be ready for deployment by 2025.

This is in line with a September 2016 announcement by People’s Liberation Army Air Force General Ma Xiaotan, referenced in the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2017 report on Chinese military power, that China would develop a new generation of long-range strategic bombers to be deployed around the mid-2020s.

Aside from the H6X1/H-6N, China has developed the H-6 into a range of support and attack roles. The H-6K, for instance, is capable of delivering standoff range CJ-20 land-attack cruise missiles with precision guidance. These bombers have conducted missions across the so-called First Island Chain, into the western Pacific.

Additionally, the People’s Liberation Army Navy operates the H-6G, which is designed for anti-ship and maritime support missions.

In recent years, senior U.S. intelligence officials have acknowledged the development of a nuclear-capable ALBM in China.

On March 6, 2018, Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, in discussing the development of new Chinese long-range, precision-strike systems, said that “These capabilities are being augmented with two new air-launched ballistic missiles, one of which may include a nuclear payload.”

In May 2017, Lt. Gen. Vincent R. Stewart, the former director of the DIA, for the first time, referenced “two, new air-launched ballistic missiles, one of which may include a nuclear payload.”

It’s unclear if the conventional ALBM referenced in these DIA threat assessments is an alternate warhead configuration for the nuclear-capable system. A conventional variant of the CH-AS-X-13 could perform a long-range anti-ship role.

ALBMs are carried horizontally by aircraft and dropped prior to their engines igniting. Following ignition, the missile reorients toward a regular ballistic trajectory like any other ballistic missile.

Yankee had refer to it one years ago, here is more image:

 

[Dante80]

This is pretty interesting. US dabbled in the past with the concept (Skybolt and even a Minuteman test) and the only application that did come out of it in the end was the Pegasus launch vehicle.

I'm willing to guess that since DF-21 already is a mobile system, PLA wants to integrate it as an ALBM for long range force projection against naval targets. As a part of the triad, using nuclear-tipped ALCMs would make a lot more sense.

 

[LKJ86]

 

[clarkgap]

This is pretty interesting. US dabbled in the past with the concept (Skybolt and even a Minuteman test) and the only application that did come out of it in the end was the Pegasus launch vehicle.

I'm willing to guess that since DF-21 already is a mobile system, PLA wants to integrate it as an ALBM for long range force projection against naval targets. As a part of the triad, using nuclear-tipped ALCMs would make a lot more sense.

Base on this document, they developed a significant type Air-to-surface missile base on the technology of M-20. So I think they use the M-20 as second stage of the CH-AS-X-13.

 

[LKJ86]

2018.4.14

 

[Deino]

2018.4.14

What's the event?

 

[LKJ86]

What's the event?

Preparation for a competition of PLAAF.