H-6N [Tu-16 BADGER]
China’s latest bomber, the H-6N with refueling capability, made its debut at the National Day parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019. Three H-6N bombers flew above Tiananmen Square during the parade. Chinese military analysts said that the new bomber’s ability to take aerial refueling can give it a much longer operational range compared to its predecessor H-6K.
Roderick Lee, research director at the China Aerospace Studies Institute, wrote for The Diplomat, that satellite imagery suggests that Neixiang airfield in Henan Province had been extensively upgraded to support H-6Ns performing a nuclear mission. The Pentagon’s annual report to congress about China in September 2019, it noted: “The H-6N features a modified fuselage that allows it to carry externally either a drone or an air-launched ballistic missile [ALBM] that may be nuclear capable. The H-6N’s air-to-air refueling capability also provides it greater reach over other H-6 variants that are not refuelable in air.”
The new H-6N with refueling capability is believed to be the latest entry to the H-6 bomber family, with many improvements made to its predecessor H-6K, including an in-flight fuel-receiving probe on the nose of the aircraft. This probe will allow the H-6N with refueling capability to conduct aerial refueling, significantly extending its operational range and expanding weapons load.
images in the Chinese magazine Modern Ships that show an H-6N bomber carrying an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) are not official confirmation of the H-6N's ALBM capability, a magazine insider said 08 November 2019. The images are computer generated, merely conceptual and have no official background, the insider told the Global Times. The insider was responding to numerous foreign reports that have jumped to conclusion. UK-based Jane's Defence Weekly reported on Wednesday that the magazine's illustrations indicate the H-6N is capable of carrying an ALBM and it could be "in the final stages of development, or may even have entered service."
The H-6N attracted attention of foreign military analysts who have previously speculated the bomber is capable of launching an ALBM, as the weapons bay of its predecessor, the H-6K, has been seemingly replaced with stations used to carry a large external load. An ALBM could be used to attack an aircraft carrier or even deliver nuclear warheads, foreign media claimed. The H-6N might also be used to launch the WZ-8 high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance drone, which was also displayed for the first time at the National Day parade. Neither the Chinese military nor official Chinese media have yet confirmed the H-6N's capabilities.
As the Chinese Air Force and Navy's attempts to go deep into the ocean continue to deepen, there is an urgent need for long-range fighters capable of cruising in the far waters of the Western Pacific. In the future, such fighters must be deployed on a larger scale and increase in frequency. At the same time, China's development momentum in bomber and airborne missile technology is also very strong, so recently the Chinese military once again exhibited to the outside world a brand new and improved long-range fighter, the H-6N. The H-6N can be said to be compared with the H-6K bombers already in mass service by the Chinese Air Force. It is derived from the same design concept. It mainly uses modern technology to improve combat effectiveness and tap the potential to replace the old H-6D and H-6M bombers.
First, the biggest change for the H-6N improved bomber is the addition of an aerial fuel pipe. This arrangement of the fuel collection tube above the pilot's right nose is quite large in size to ensure that the refueling docking position has a sufficient safe distance from the body. After that, a pipeline arranged on the right side of the cockpit connects the fuel pipe to the fuel pipeline in the fuselage.
The technical difficulty is not low. On the H-6N modified bomber flying at high speeds close to the speed of sound, this oil pipe bears a lot of aerodynamic force, and it needs to consider its own volume and weight. Simply considering the aerodynamic force of the fuel pipe, the fuel pipe should be changed to a design that can be inserted into the fuselage as much as possible. This can reduce the degree of damage to the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft and ensure maneuverability. Therefore, many military aircraft use retractable fuel receiving pipes.
For example, the Su-35 fighter is equipped with an "L" type retractable fuel receiving pipe, which can be inserted into the nose or inside of the fuselage when not in use, and extended to connect with the fueling pipe when in use. However, this seemingly more advanced method also has its drawbacks, including complex structure, heavy weight, reduced reliability, and occupying more internal space. The H-6N modified bomber’s oil receiving pipe is huge, and there seems to be no room for tapping the potential inside the airframe. Some pipelines must be routed from the outside of the aircraft. Therefore, it is understandable that no folding oil receiving pipe is used.
The hard tube refueling design currently adopted by the US military has a much smaller impact on the aircraft. This is because this design only has a fuel receiving interface on the back or nose of the machine, and the fuel dispenser is equipped with a complicated hard fueling pipe, which can be directly inserted into the fuel receiving pipe interface. Therefore, the relevant devices of the fuel-bearing aircraft are significantly simplified, can be arranged more flexibly, occupy less weight, less space, and the distance from the fuel tank is also small, and there is no need to add too many pipelines. But for the time being, this is too demanding for China, which lacks large tankers, so the H-6N continues to use soft refueling features.
second, the fire control system and missile weapons have been significantly improved. It is expected that the search and tracking fire control system, missile weapons, power, flight control and other systems of the H-6N improved bomber are similar to the latest revised H-6J bomber and the H-6K bomber of the Chinese Air Force that have been in service in the Chinese Navy Air Force. According to network information, the H-6J has a cruising range of 8,000 kilometers and can simultaneously carry multiple Eagle-Strike-12 anti-ship missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers. Such a range, plus the range of the missile, can cover all areas of China's surrounding waters and the Pacific island chain.
The Eagle Strike-12 supersonic anti-ship missile is the first supersonic anti-ship missile independently developed and equipped in batches by China. It can not only be air-launched, but also be used on large warships. The Eagle Strike-12 officially entered service in 2015 and is currently one of the most powerful anti-ship missiles in the world. The air-launched Eagle Strike-12 anti-ship missile has a rate of fire of about Mach 3 and a range of more than 400 kilometers. It can conduct out-of-sight strike operations and can launch attacks outside the 400-kilometer monitoring range of the Aegis radar. This poses a great threat to large ships such as aircraft carriers. This makes some potential opponents' aircraft carrier fleets dare not act rashly.
In addition, compared with the previous H-6, the informatization capabilities of H-6N and H-6J have been significantly improved, including the support of the addition of my country’s completely independent Beidou satellite precision positioning system, and improvements to relying on satellites and beyond visual range. The combat communication capabilities of the battlefield information chain of radio communication means can deal with more complex electronic warfare environments, and the penetration capability has been improved. At the same time, the electronic jamming system of the H-6N and H-6J can ensure their own safety in a complex electromagnetic environment. This is the main means for modern bombers to evade enemy fighters and air defense missiles. Because the bomber has a large load, it can carry an electronic warfare system that far exceeds the power and function of an enemy fighter, and has considerable advantages in this field.
Third, the new H-6N adds a new electronic warfare pod. The H-6N and H-6J are brand new and improved long-range bombers. Compared with other models of the H-6 family, the biggest difference in appearance lies in the addition of electronic warfare pods on both sides of the wings near the wingtips. Air refueling can also be implemented. This allows its cruising range to reach 8,000 kilometers, and the effective load of bombs has also increased significantly. The main internal change is to increase the special communication, command and battlefield situational awareness systems necessary for diversified long-sea operations.
Many reports specifically pointed out that the H-6N and H-6J can carry 6 large missiles. For example, the latter can carry 6 Eagle- 12 supersonic anti-ship missiles. This index is the same as the H-6M and H-6H of the same family. Compared with only carrying two large missiles, the number of bombs has doubled. Of course, a major reason is that the newly introduced D30 turbofan engine of our army has good fuel economy, which ensures that the fighter aircraft still has enough range while carrying more missiles.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force's latest bomber, the H-6N, was spotted 17 October 2020 carrying what seemed to be a ballistic missile. The brevity and quality of the video make it difficult to ascertain exactly what the H-6N was carrying. One on-line commentator from China posited that the weapon in the footage is somewhat longer than the DF-21. The weapon could be an air-launched ballistic missile, or potentially a boost-glide hypersonic vehicle. With such a hypersonic warhead, this new capability could enable the H-6N to become a real strategic bomber capable of covering the entire Indo-Pacific region with air strikes against which there is no defense.
A video circulating on Chinese and overseas social media platforms showed an H-6N landing at an unidentified airbase. The bomber carried a new missile resembling the shape of the DF-17, a hypersonic ballistic missile first showcased to the general public at the National Day parade in Beijing on October 1, 2019, under its belly, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on 19 October 2020.
Citing a screenshot of the video, media on the island of Taiwan said that the missile is about 13 meters long and has a diameter of about 1 meter. US news website thedrive.com also gave coverage to the video. It said that the massive weapon's unique wedge-shaped profile of its forward section points to the possibility that the missile is a hypersonic weapon system.
The H-6N is capable of carrying outsized loads, including high-speed drone aircraft to anti-ship ballistic missiles, as well as more traditional cruise missiles, the US media report said, noting that an air-launched DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile is thought to have been in development for some time.
Technically, if an aircraft can launch a ballistic missile, it can also launch a hypersonic one, because one typical type of hypersonic missile consists of a rocket booster used on a traditional ballistic missile and a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle. The main difference between a traditional ballistic missile and a hypersonic one is only that the traditional warhead is replaced by the hypersonic boost-glide vehicle, experts said.
Compared with its predecessor the H-6K, the H-6N can carry more fuel and can receive aerial refueling, which could greatly extend its operational radius and range, transforming it from a medium- to long-range bomber to a long-range strategic bomber. When equipped with long-range, air-launched ballistic missiles, the H-6N can gain greater attack range and defense penetration capabilities compared with traditional cruise missiles that fly at subsonic speeds. The combination of the H-6N and ballistic missiles can cover the entire Indo-Pacific region. Second Island Chain US military bases on Guam and Wake Island will be within range, thedrive.com reported.
The H-6N could become a “sniper” weapon used by China to defend its land and maritime rights and to attack future enemy combat formations. The emergence of the H-6J greatly enhanced the control of the Chinese naval aviation over the surrounding sea areas. It is believed that H-6N, in conjunction with China’s other key strategic strike weapons, such as the Dongfeng family hypersonic missiles, Dongfeng-21D/Dongfeng-26 anti-ship ballistic missiles, etc., could become a key weapon for effective control of the far seas of the Western Pacific.
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