Posted on 10/14/2015 5:24:33 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The strategic bombers of the People's Liberation Army Air Force can now launch all-weather, long-range, precision strikes, military observers said.
"The fact that our H-6K bombers have performed several long-distance drills far into the Pacific Ocean indicates that the H-6K fleet has become capable of conducting various operations such as long-range precision strikes," Fu Qianshao, an aviation equipment expert with the PLA Air Force, told China Daily on Tuesday.
"In the past, our bombers could only deliver airdropped bombs and so were unable to conduct precision attacks, but the H-6K, with the adoption of some of our most advanced aeronautic technologies, is able to carry and launch air-to-surface cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, which means it can take out multiple targets on the ground or at sea within one mission," he said.
Such capability is indispensable for any air force if it wants to perform strategic missions, Fu said.
"The PLA has defined its air force as a strategic force and pledged to obtain offensive capability for it. An air force with strategic aspirations must be able to perform long-range precision strike operations, so the H-6K is undoubtedly a valuable asset to the PLA Air Force," he added.
His remarks came as PLA Daily reported that H-6Ks from a bomber unit under the Guangzhou Military Command flew several thousand kilometers to an unidentified airspace during a recent exercise and destroyed multiple targets using precision weapons.
The bombers used sophisticated maneuvers and tactics to break through the "enemy defense" and overcame bad weather and the "enemy's electromagnetic blockage", the report said.
The bomber unit is the first to use the H-6K and has flown out of the "first island chain" several times this year to perform long-range drills, according to the newspaper.
PLA military theorists refer to two island "chains" as forming a geographic basis for China's maritime defensive perimeter. The precise boundaries of these chains have never been officially defined by the Chinese government.
By commonly accepted definitions, the first island chain refers to a series of islands stretching from Japan in the north to the Philippines in the south. The second island chain runs from the Bonin Islands in the north and moves southward through the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Caroline Islands.
H-6K is the latest variant of the H-6 bomber and possibly the only one in the five-decade-old family that can be defined as a genuine strategic bomber. The original H-6 was developed based on the Soviet-era Tu-16 Badger, which was designed in the 1950s and retired by Russia in the early 1990s.
"Even though the plane lacks stealth capacity, it still can carry out long-range strikes thanks to the capability of launching airborne cruise missiles," he said.
-ends-
The H-6K, the latest version of the H-6 bomber that is entering service with the Chinese air forces, is the first capable of launching ground-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles, giving China for the first time a long-range strike capability. (PLA photo)
I read this morning in an article on China, that the Chinese middle class recently overcame America’s.
The website however, is not one which can be posted to FR.
That however shows, how completely all of the businesses which went to China and are building up the country, have sold out America.
Bring jobs back to America. And for crying out loud, stop importing everything.
Donald has the right approach. Just saying.
The Chinese are discovering the hazards of ramped up military spending in a time of transition to capitalism. That’s why their stock market is wonky.
Their stock market is very strong.
America is the place, with a stock market which is wonky.
Our entire financial system is now a game. America needs once again, to be for American businesses, and American jobs.
Just saying.
We are making our own biggest opponent.
Right now.
The H-6K is just an updated Tupolev Badger. The design is as old or older than the B-52. They would not last very long in contested airspace.
I’d be more impressed if they were building Tupolev Blinders, Backfires, or Blackjacks.
“China’s stock market has plunged by more than a third since it peaked in mid-June as a bubble burst, prompting authorities to spend hundreds of billions of dollars trying to prop up prices.”
Thats true. It’s roughtly analagous to the B-47 Stratojet, but with two big engines rather than six smaller ones.
That having been said, a B-47 updated with the latest/greatest weapons systems would be pretty formidable in a lot of roles. Sort of like a B-52 lite.
China’s stock market, unlike our own, is supported by the world’s largest manufacturing base.
A manufacturing base which supplies tons of things, for AMERICAN consumers.
We have a huge disconnect.
We need to bring back American manufacturing. Now.
Truth is, if you can hang enough modern missiles on it, just about anything can be formidable in “a lot of roles.” The question is, what happens when you are up against someone who can shoot back?
The main things the H-6K crew needs to think about is “How far away will the AWACS see me coming?” and “Can I get my missiles off before the CAP intercepts me?”
I am quite sure that the Chinese will test this over Syria.
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