The American B-21 project has always attracted the attention of all parties, not only China and Russia, but also India. On December 2, after the United States announced the B-21 prototype for the first time, in the Indian media "Eurasia Times", a columnist named Sriva Stava published an article titled "Owning The B-21 "Raider" fleet of U.S. Air Force strategic bombers is "far superior" to any aircraft owned by China and Russia - The article "Air Combat Experts" praised the B-21 bomber .
This Indian expert spoke highly of the B-21
The author is not simple. He is a former colonel of the Indian Air Force. He has flown MiG-29 and other fighter jets. He has served as a squadron leader of the Indian Air Force and the deputy director of the Secunderabad Air War College. After retiring, he concentrated on writing articles on international affairs, social issues, military affairs and politics. He is one of India's well-known military experts.
According to this author, the latest B-21 bomber manufactured by the US military is better than any aircraft owned by China and Russia. He declared: So far, none of China's and Russia's strategic bombers can match the performance of the B-21 that has not yet been put into use. He called the B-21 a "sixth-generation aircraft." The Indian colonel believed that the design of the B-21 is close to B-2. It is a typical design with extremely high stealth performance. It can penetrate target defense systems without being discovered and threatened, and deliver ammunition to multiple targets in one mission. Equipped with almost all modern precision-guided munitions, it also has nuclear strike capabilities, and can reach any corner of the earth through aerial refueling. Is
B-21 an American sixth-generation machine?
He believes that no bomber from China and Russia can match the B-21, and even the existing B-2 is far ahead of any other bomber. In the article, he said that the H-6 and the future h-20 have neither firepower nor range advantages, as does the Russian Tu-95. I don’t know how he came to this conclusion. Whether the B-21 can be classified as a sixth-generation aircraft is really a question. This is just the American media’s own bragging, and others will not admit it.
Do Americans despise the H-20 so much? Whether
can be ahead of Chinese and Russian bombers is also a question. There is no public information about the technical level of the H-20 project. The American media is very concerned about the impact of the H-20. For example, the "1945" website has published many articles to express its concerns and regards the H-20 as an important threat. There is no contempt for it, and it is far from being backward as described by Indians.
Russia's next-generation strategic bomber PAK-DA was also deliberately ignored by him. A model that even Americans pay attention to, why was it not mentioned at all in the article? Is it due to ignorance or contempt?
Does having B-21 solve everything?
If you study it further, you will find that there are more than one issues that he ignored. The United States has only ordered 100 B-21s now, not the 145 he said. 100 is the approved plan, and 145 is just a military requirement, and there is no approved concept. The cost of the B-21 project is also quite ignored, and it is almost unclear how much its unit price is. According to current statements, its unit price has exceeded US$700 million. The former Indian colonel simply said that the B-21 program will cost up to 203 billion U.S. dollars over 30 years. In addition, he said nothing about the cost. Is it obvious that he intends to avoid reality? At present, the high cost of the B21 project has made the United States quite embarrassed.
The U.S. bomber force now really needs a strategic upgrade
Indian Army Colonel Sriva Stava also firmly believes that the Chinese and Russian bomber forces cannot keep up with the U.S. military, neither in quality nor quantity. Compared with the U.S. bomber force, the quality issues have been discussed. The quantity is that the future U.S. Air Force strategic bomber fleet may include 145 B-21 stealth bombers and 75 B-52 old bombers, for a total of 220 aircraft. The existing 21 B-2s and all B-1B bombers will be retired.Although
admits that it is not clear how long it will take to receive 145 B-21 bombers, because the flight test is very complicated and a slow process; according to the current progress, it will not enter service until 5 years later, that is, it will not enter service until 2027 at the earliest; in fact, this is the most optimistic estimate. According to the current situation, it is not unexpected to delay it until after 2030. But in the future, the B-21 will become the mainstay of the US Air Force's strategic bomber fleet.
The reflection point of this Indian colonel is quite interesting. If India cannot build the B-21, is it the defense minister?
can only do some research. This former colonel of the Indian Army highly praised the B-21, and also made a special point of view: India cannot build it because its own people are not strong enough. He pointed out that the success of the B-21 relies on Secretary of the Air Force Kendall's personal and direct involvement, as the director of acquisition, technology and logistics, and as the deputy secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, ensuring budgetary support and strengthening the needs of the Air Force. This demonstrates a leader’s background and understanding that can directly impact national security, and the Indian military establishment needs to learn extremely pertinent lessons. The Indian author’s final conclusion: The Indian defense minister cannot build the B-21 because of the incompetence of the Indian defense minister. He criticized: "Our defense minister does not need to have any such background, so this is the current situation."
U.S. Air Force Secretary Kendall
Such remarks by the former Indian colonel are simply unbelievable. India cannot build the B-21. Is it all the fault of the Indian defense minister? It seems that military research and development only needs a good leader, and there is no need to consider other factors. It seems that India's military industry research and development capabilities can be compared with the United States. Isn't this too ridiculous? Of course, if we review the previous articles of this former colonel of the Indian Army, we can find that he is quite dissatisfied with the Indian Defense Minister. He has no professional background, no military background, or even a basic military industry background. The appointment of such a Defense Minister will naturally lead to chaos in India's domestic military procurement and military industry projects.
studied it for a while, and found that he also had problems with his theory about the B-21. In his eyes, as long as the US military uses the B-21, it will have great advantages. In fact, China and Russia will not be at any disadvantage because of the emergence of the B-21. The United States does want to use the B-21 to pose a threat to China and Russia, but China and Russia also have many countermeasures.
Indians should reflect on why they did not have bombers now if they had bombers before.
China and Russia have maintained a fairly strong nuclear deterrent capability against the United States. Don’t just focus on studying bombers. Strategically, China and Russia do not rely on strategic bombers to achieve nuclear deterrence. Land-based nuclear missiles are the focus. Only the People's Liberation Army has access to the nuclear missiles of the American continent, not only the Dongfeng 5B, but also the Dongfeng 41. The maximum range can reach more than 12,000 kilometers, and it has the ability to launch from China to attack any target in the United States. It also has the capability of multiple warheads. As long as one is launched, it can cause fatal damage to the United States.
Dongfeng-41 is an important weapon for nuclear counterattack
If nuclear deterrence is not used and only conventional strikes are carried out, the B-21 may not have any chance. Its performance is better than any active aircraft in China and Russia. Both China and Russia have the ability to attack any base of the US military located on the first and second island chains. If it cannot fly, it will not pose any threat.
No matter what attitude India adopts, there are too many uncertainties in the B-21 project, and it is inappropriate to overexaggerate its impact.
