China has invested a lot of money and time on the Xian H-6 bomber and now it has become a great asset for its defense force. The weapon is China’s variant of Cold War-era Tupolev Tu-16 and it’s a big concern for the USA.
Pentagon recently releases the China Military Power Report that the H-6 is a weapon of big concern for the country’s defense planners. The report has a total of 172 pages and the H-6 family is mentioned 32 times. Another China’s highly anticipated jet, Chengdu J-20 is mentioned only 10 times. The Sukhoi Su-35, regarded by some as China’s best fighter got only 2 mentions. There are only a few lines dedicated to the stealth bomber and only tell us that it will be ready somewhere in the middle of this decade.
The concerns the USA is having are for a valid reason. Even though the jet is a copy of the Soviet Tu-16, used by Russia till the early 1990s, the H-6 will lead China’s attack force till the 2030s. Even when the stealth bomber, H-20 will be ready, the H-6 would hold more importance.
The powerful H-6 entered Chinese Service in the 1960s and since then it has been through several iterations and upgrades. Its variants like H-6K and H-6N that were used by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the H-6J used by the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force are more useful than the Tu-16. The new variants saw major improvements over the previous generations. So, it’s very necessary to set new measures and allow travelers to get a safe experience.
The H-6N was the latest variant during the huge military parade in Beijing on 1 October 2019. The aircraft is new and China has not yet declared the number of aircraft it possesses. The new aircraft would act as the backbone of the country’s striking power.