After more than thirty years of hard work, China has made remarkable achievements in the field of military industry, especially in the equipment research and development of the navy and air force, which are traditionally weak subjects. It has greatly shortened the distance with t

to develop bomber ?

In 1991, the Gulf War broke out. In this epoch-making war, the large amount of high-tech equipment displayed by the US military alarmed China, which was thousands of miles away. Since then, China's military industry has begun to prepare for a new round of take-off.

After more than thirty years of hard work, China has made remarkable achievements in the field of military industry, especially in the traditional weak subjects-the equipment research and development of the navy and air force. has greatly shortened the distance between and the United States.

At present, the Chinese Navy's No. 003 aircraft carrier has been launched under the name of "Fujian Ship". The Air Force also has top fighters such as J-20 and J-31, but only the H-20, which has early signs of development, has been No news.

Is it more difficult to develop a bomber than an aircraft carrier?

In fact, the answer is not that. The main reason why China has still failed to develop the H-20 even though it has launched three aircraft carriers is that China's demand for strategic bombers is not urgent. The establishment of the

aircraft carrier project is related to the improvement of China's offshore defense system. Especially when the imaginary enemy is a US aircraft carrier, China's need to build an aircraft carrier becomes particularly urgent.

In the field of bombers, although China's old H-6 is old, it can still meet the security needs of within the territory. Especially after China has made many "magic modifications" to the H-6, although it still looks like the H-6 on the outside, it is completely different inside.

Take the latest H-6N as an example. Its weapon platform has been modified to launch YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missiles with a range of 400 kilometers. It can easily break through the Aegis ship's 350-kilometer defense radius. The power system of the H-6N has also been greatly enhanced after processing. The range has reached 8,000 kilometers, and it can be refueled in the air. By then, the endurance can reach 12,000 kilometers, which has reached the standard of a strategic bomber.

How long does it take to develop the H-20?

It can be seen from various data of the H-6N that although this nominal "H-6" inherits the appearance characteristics of the old model, its internal avionics system, weapon system, and power system are all the latest The version of the platform , in terms of combat performance, is not inferior to the long-range bombers of the same era.

At this stage, the strategic needs of the Chinese Air Force are still mainly homeland defense, and the task of strategic deterrence can be completed by the Dongfeng missile family and the nuclear submarine force. Therefore, China's need for strategic bombers is not urgent.

However, the H-20 R&D project is not a fiction.. As early as 2016, Chinese Air Force Commander Ma Xiaotian broke the news about the existence of this project, so we can conclude that the emergence of the H-20 is only a matter of time.

As one of the three major military powers along with the United States and Russia, it is inevitable for China to possess strategic bombers. So, when can we really see the H-20 itself?

Regarding this issue, we can refer to the development process of the typical American hidden bomber B-2. This subsonic stealth bomber project was initiated in 1975. After two years of technical demonstration, construction officially started in 1977. After another 12 years of technical research, the first B-2 completed its first flight in 1989, but it was still far from being officially put into service. It was not until 1997, eight years later, that the B-2 stealth bomber officially began to be installed in the US military.

From the establishment of the project to the entry into service, the B-2 stealth bomber has been used for 22 years.. China's H-20 will obviously not lag behind the B-2 in terms of technical specifications. It will inevitably have stealth performance and strategic bombing performance. Therefore, the development of the H-20 will not be effective in three to five years.

If China starts the project at the beginning of the 21st century, we will not be able to get more specific information about the H-20 until about 2025.

What will H-20 look like?

Although the specific features of the H-20 are still confusing, the outside world has never stopped speculating about it.In the promotional video "Great Power Takes Off" for the 60th anniversary of AVIC's Xi'an base, a mysterious aircraft model attracted people's attention. At the end of the

promotional video, a mysterious aircraft model covered with a curtain flashed by. From the appearance, it was quite similar to the American stealth bomber B-2.

This mysterious aircraft adopts a flying wing layout, and it is worth noting that it does not have the vertical tail that ordinary aircraft have. Therefore, some people speculate that the H-20 is likely to adopt the non-vertical tail flying wing design of the American B-2 bomber, using a triangular fuselage to reduce the radar reflection area, thereby achieving a stealth effect.

However, some military experts expressed different views. Military commentator Wang Qiang said that although the stealth performance of the U.S. B-2 is powerful, due to its tailless design, this aircraft cannot meet the requirements of supersonic cruise. As anti-aircraft missiles increasingly reach supersonic standards, Next, China's H-20 is likely to have supersonic cruise capabilities.

Therefore, the H-20 is likely to adopt a flying wing layout + variable tail structure.

When the H-20 needs to enter stealth mode, the tail fin can increase the establishment angle to improve the stability of the fuselage at supersonic speeds ; when the H-20 needs to enter supersonic cruise mode, the tail fin can be lowered significantly. Reduce the reflection area of ​​ radar .

If the H-20 adopts this design, it means that it will completely surpass the American stealth bomber B-2 and become the star model of strategic bomber in the new era.

However, Wang Qiang also said that the flying wing layout is a powerful challenge to China's aviation industry , and it requires the domestic industry to have a high level of process processing.

From an aerodynamic point of view, the flying-wing layout is a quite novel solution. Many countries do not have production experience with this design. Therefore, the advent of the H-20 will inevitably have many technical difficulties that need to be overcome. For We need more patience here.