An H-6 bomber is displayed at the Zhuhai Air Show in China (REUTERS/David Campbell Lague/File)
In a series of military exercises in the seas and skies surrounding Taiwan last month, China deployed some of its newest attack aircraft, warships and missile forces. However, one of the most threatening weapons used in the drills was an updated version of a bomber that first flew in the early years of the Cold War.
Like the United States, which continues to use updated versions of the B-52, a bomber from the same era, China has successfully modernized its H-6 jet so that it continues to fly in the 21st century.
These bombers were shown in Chinese state-controlled media taking off on missions designed to intimidate Taiwan as part of war games. Named by the Chinese army as Joint-Sword 2024Bthe maneuvers were a “stern warning” to the independence-seeking population of Taiwan, according to the Chinese military.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that 153 Chinese military aircraft, 14 warships and 12 other ships were detected around the island during a 25-hour period after the maneuvers began on October 14. The ministry also reported that 111 of the planes had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry told the news agency Reuters that had been detected “three groups of three H-6 aircraft” operating in the island’s airspace during China’s military maneuvers. Two of the groups “carried out attack drills”the ministry said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry did not respond to questions for this article.
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies over the East China Sea in this photo taken by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on May 24, 2022 (REUTERS/File)
Some modernized versions of the Chinese H-6 bomber are now capable of launching ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads, while others can carry multiple long-range anti-ship and land-attack missiles, according to defense analysts and Pentagon reports on the Chinese military. Some versions can be refueled in flight, allowing them to fly from bases in mainland China and strike targets deep in the western Pacific, where the United States has large bases in Guam and elsewhere.
Asked about the military drills, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the island was using “joint intelligence surveillance to track the movements of the communist military around Taiwan,” while sending “air, sea and missile forces to respond.” as appropriate to ensure national defense and security.”
A group of people watch the performance of the Bayi aerobatic team of the Chinese Army Air Force in Zhuhai on November 12, 2024 (REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)
Unlike the United States, which stopped building the B-52 in 1962, China has continued manufacturing the twin-engine H-6 at a plant in the center of the country. However, H-6 production may have recently slowed or stopped, according to Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine officer and expert on the Chinese military. Shugart estimates that the Chinese Air Force currently has about 230 bombers of this type.
The H-6 is derived from the Tupolev Tu-16 bomber, which the Soviet Union put into service in the early 1950s and which NATO codenamed Badger. China began building these aircraft under license in the late 1950s, according to experts at the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military.
The Taiwanese and Japanese militaries have reported that H-6 bombers have frequently been deployed on flights near their airspace in recent years. They are also sent on flights over the South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over large areas of disputed territory.
In a conflict, these bombers would pose a serious threat to ships and ground targets, according to American and Taiwanese military experts.
Shugart said Chinese military doctrine for island landing campaigns, such as an invasion of Taiwan, provides for attacks on headquarters, communications facilities, logistics centers and other key targets, along with attacks on airfields, ports and ships at sea. “I would expect the H-6s to be involved in all of these types of operations,” he said.
These attacks would likely be coordinated with missile fires, possibly without warning, that would weaken air defenses and destroy runways to trap planes on the ground, Shugart added. He said these planes could be attacked with cruise missiles launched from H-6 bombers.
Fighters from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercept a Chinese H-6 long-range bomber operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone on July 24, 2024 (REUTERS/File)
In mid-September, official Chinese media offered some clues about the role the H-6 could play in a confrontation off the Chinese coast.
The state chain CCTV showed images of one of these bombers flying in an exercise with fighters and a long-range WZ-7 surveillance drone. The drone penetrated a potential adversary’s air defenses, identified a target and transmitted this information to the H-6, according to the footage. The bomber appears by launching a missile in front of him.
Experts say the United States should try to neutralize the H-6 bombers while they are still on the ground. According to David Deptula, dean of the Washington-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and a retired lieutenant general in the US Air Force, “any common sense war plan would target those planes before they could take off.”
In March, Shugart told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission that the Chinese H-6 force has expanded and that these aircraft now have better airframes, technology, engines and weapons. long range.
In addition to regularly sending H-6s on missions off the Chinese coast, Beijing is now deploying these aircraft in the same way that the US Air Force uses long-range patrol B-52s and its other bombers. to signal the United States’ ability to attack distant targets.
A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress heavy bomber is escorted by U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets alongside South Korean F-15K fighter jets and Japanese F-2 fighter jets during a trilateral exercise on the 22nd. October 2023 over the Korean Peninsula (Photo: Europa Press/Karrla Parra/US Air)
On July 24, American and Canadian fighters intercepted a joint patrol of two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95s near Alaska, according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Although the Russians conduct regular patrols in this area, it was the first time Chinese bombers flew near the US mainland, in an operation that revealed the growing power and confidence of the Chinese military, according to former US air force officers.
The flights were not considered “a threat, and NORAD continues to monitor competitor activity near North America and respond to presence with presence,” declared Pentagon spokesman Nguyen.
The Chinese and Russian defense ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, Col. Zhang Xiaogang, said at a news conference at the time that the joint patrol was to test and improve coordination between the Chinese and Russian air forces. “This operation does not target third parties,” Zhang said.
(With information from Reuters)
