H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

Take note that US officials have claimed that there are two ALBMs under development in China. The first, the so-called CH-AS-X-13, was allegedly launched in December 2016 and has conducted five test flights. It is also supposedly based on the DF-21 and has a range of 3000 km.

This recent test must've been of a smaller counterpart and likely the second of the two aforementioned missile systems.

Has this been posted before? -

A rare look at H-6K's bomb bay.

(2048 x 1366)

The next step would be the integration of the smaller ALBM onto a fighter platform like the J-15, J-16, or JH-7.

I can foresee future J-15B carrier air wings employing this system to give the PLAN long-range anti-ship capabilities without having to devote vessels to carry them.

SinoSoldier said:

The next step would be the integration of the smaller ALBM onto a fighter platform like the J-15, J-16, or JH-7.

I can foresee future J-15B carrier air wings employing this system to give the PLAN long-range anti-ship capabilities without having to devote vessels to carry them.

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Currently there is only one ALBM that can be launched on a tactical plane, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. It supposedly is developed from 9K720 Iskander, which is 7.3m long, has a diameter of 0.92m, and weights 3.8t. Iskander is 1.3t heavier than YJ-12 and the air launch variant of Brahmos (both 2.5t). Therefore, if JH-7 and the Sino-Flankers are going to carry an ALBM, the dimension and weight of that missile is probably around those ranges. (All data are from Wikipedia)

However, what advantages do those ALBM offers?

In orbital launch, the airborne launching platform only provides an insignificant amount of deltaV for the launch vehicle. Granted the ALBM will only perform suborbital flight and the fraction of deltaV provided by the platform would be greater, the increase in range probably will be limited. Additionally, the missile would have to carry its own oxidizer. On the other hand, air-breathing missiles such as YJ-12 and BrahMos can utilize the atmosphere. ALBM probably would not compete with cruising missiles in the range department.

The versatility of the launch platform could be an advantage. However, as JH-7 and the Flankers lack a payload bay, the drags caused by the ALBM probably cannot be ignored. Perhaps it can be encapsulated in a pod like B-58.

The penetration of enemy defense could be another selling point so that during reentry, the warhead flies in a special trajectory. I recall that Qian Xuesen had done research in this area. Could this be something the ALBM designers capitalize on?

mys_721tx said:

Currently there is only one ALBM that can be launched on a tactical plane, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. It supposedly is developed from 9K720 Iskander, which is 7.3m long, has a diameter of 0.92m, and weights 3.8t. Iskander is 1.3t heavier than YJ-12 and the air launch variant of Brahmos (both 2.5t). Therefore, if JH-7 and the Sino-Flankers are going to carry an ALBM, the dimension and weight of that missile is probably around those ranges. (All data are from Wikipedia)

However, what advantages do those ALBM offers?

In orbital launch, the airborne launching platform only provides an insignificant amount of deltaV for the launch vehicle. Granted the ALBM will only perform suborbital flight and the fraction of deltaV provided by the platform would be greater, the increase in range probably will be limited. Additionally, the missile would have to carry its own oxidizer. On the other hand, air-breathing missiles such as YJ-12 and BrahMos can utilize the atmosphere. ALBM probably would not compete with cruising missiles in the range department.

The versatility of the launch platform could be an advantage. However, as JH-7 and the Flankers lack a payload bay, the drags caused by the ALBM probably cannot be ignored. Perhaps it can be encapsulated in a pod like B-58.

The penetration of enemy defense could be another selling point so that during reentry, the warhead flies in a special trajectory. I recall that Qian Xuesen had done research in this area. Could this be something the ALBM designers capitalize on?

Click to expand...

I don’t think the value of an ALBM can be viewed in isolation. By itself it’s probably not too profound a weapon, but in combination with multiple other kinds of missile threats it adds another attack vector that has to be defended against, and one which happens to pose a challenge for both traditional anti ballistic missile and anti cruise missile defense systems.

mys_721tx said:

Currently there is only one ALBM that can be launched on a tactical plane, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. It supposedly is developed from 9K720 Iskander, which is 7.3m long, has a diameter of 0.92m, and weights 3.8t. Iskander is 1.3t heavier than YJ-12 and the air launch variant of Brahmos (both 2.5t). Therefore, if JH-7 and the Sino-Flankers are going to carry an ALBM, the dimension and weight of that missile is probably around those ranges. (All data are from Wikipedia)

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I think that is expected. Some decent sources are now claiming that the "NB" missile was actually a smaller ALBM carrying a maneuverable gliding vehicle for anti-ship purposes. Range would probably be ~2000 km, roughly comparable to the Kinzhal. Wouldn't be surprised at all if the missile was a development of a Chinese SRBM like the DF-15/11, M20, B-611, P-12, or even DF-16.

mys_721tx said:

However, what advantages do those ALBM offers?

In orbital launch, the airborne launching platform only provides an insignificant amount of deltaV for the launch vehicle. Granted the ALBM will only perform suborbital flight and the fraction of deltaV provided by the platform would be greater, the increase in range probably will be limited. Additionally, the missile would have to carry its own oxidizer. On the other hand, air-breathing missiles such as YJ-12 and BrahMos can utilize the atmosphere. ALBM probably would not compete with cruising missiles in the range department.

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ALBMs not only have a delta-V advantage but also altitude advantage as well, and the air density differs dramatically between sea level and at 10000 m (probably the release altitude of the two Chinese ALBMs). I don't foresee cruise missiles having a significant range advantage but I do think that they offer terrain hugging, radar evasion, etc., that are critical to attacking high-value targets. ALBMs on the other hand offer much greater kinetic energies upon impact and are suitable for hardened or buried targets (think of aircraft carriers or deep underground reactors). I don't think it's feasible to compare an ALBM and an ALCM on a direct basis; they both have their purposes and set of advantages. If you're concerned about delta-V then that is even more of a reason to integrate these missiles onto supersonic platforms.

mys_721tx said:

The versatility of the launch platform could be an advantage. However, as JH-7 and the Flankers lack a payload bay, the drags caused by the ALBM probably cannot be ignored. Perhaps it can be encapsulated in a pod like B-58.

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I don't think these aircraft will be better off slugging a cruise missile like the YJ-12 or two+ YJ-83Ks. A key advantage of fighter integration would be the potential for carrier-based aircraft to carry these ALBMs.

mys_721tx said:

The penetration of enemy defense could be another selling point so that during reentry, the warhead flies in a special trajectory. I recall that Qian Xuesen had done research in this area. Could this be something the ALBM designers capitalize on?

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Refer to my point above talking about glide vehicles. I think that's what the designer had exactly in mind.

So how many have they produced sofar 50's? From Henri K blog

The mass production of H-6K bombers and its variants continues ...

mys_721tx said:

Currently there is only one ALBM that can be launched on a tactical plane, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. It supposedly is developed from 9K720 Iskander, which is 7.3m long, has a diameter of 0.92m, and weights 3.8t. Iskander is 1.3t heavier than YJ-12 and the air launch variant of Brahmos (both 2.5t). Therefore, if JH-7 and the Sino-Flankers are going to carry an ALBM, the dimension and weight of that missile is probably around those ranges. (All data are from Wikipedia)
...

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Actually there are a lot more ancient air launched ballistic missile systems. Back from Soviet times. The Kh-22 is one example. It was launched with the Tu-22M. The latest variant, the Kh-32, attains up to Mach 5 and has 1000 km range according to Wikipedia. Another variant is the Kh-15 missile which is smaller and can be launched from more platforms including the Su-34.