China is developing the H20 long-range stealth bomber and one version could copy the US B2 bomber and another the Russian Tu-160.
Above – H-20 impression from Artist Bai Wei. H-20 art put together information from Chinese research articles and info leaks to produce this speculative picture of the H-20 stealth bomber. Bai Wei
China already has stealth fighters and has developed the Y20 cargo plane.
China’s new-generation long-range bomber is likely to have the following characteristics.
1. good stealth performance. The new bomber will probably adopt the flying wing layout like American and Russian bombers to meet the requirement for stealth performance.
2. ultra long range. The new bomber has an intercontinental flying range of more than 10,000km and combat radius of over 5,000km. With air refueling, it is able to fly and carry out missions around the globe.
3. large bomb load. Aimed to lower the R&D cost and enhance strike capability, the new bomber will have a slightly smaller bomb load than B-2A (23 tons) but larger than H-6K.
4. nuclear-regular integration. The new-generation long-range bomber will have both nuclear and regular strike capability to hit the enemy’s key links and systemic weaknesses.
5. strong electronic combat capability. The new-generation long-range bomber is almost as good as a special electronic combat aircraft in electronic combat capability. It is able to disturb and destroy incoming missiles and other air and ground targets through a range of equipment including radar, electronic confrontation platform, high power microwave, laser and infrared equipment.
A version of the H-20 will be similar in size to and shape to B-2 bomber. The H-20 would have bombs and the 1,200-mile-range CJ-10 land attack cruise missiles. Future weapons will include the GB-6A stealth cruise missiles and hypersonic scramjet missiles.
The US and Russia both have their own long-range bombers. The US has the B-52H, B-1B and B-2A. Russia has the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS. The US is developing a next-generation B21 Raider strategic bomber.
China already has a stealth drone
The Sharp Sword UCAV is a Chinese attack drone, a modified version of which could act as a robotic wingman to the future H-20 stealth bomber.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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