Do you believe that such a bomber is presently in some serious phase of development? We've seen some toy models previously, but there's nothing like the buzz there is for the H-20 (the stealthy and large 2 out of 3).
H-20 bomber (with H-X, JH-XX)
- Thread starter Deino
- Start date
No clue. We've been hearing indecisive noise for a few years now.
Overall, it makes sense that between H-20 and JH-XX the former would be of much greater priority, and if they decided they only had enough money to fund one of the two, they'd go for H-20 instead.
Those that show a preference for more complex attack vectors, pathing, profiles, and coordination;
Those that cannot be predetermined until after the start of the mission(target, waypoints);
Those that can be potentially called back(for military or political reasons);
Those where you need to rapidly augment, concentrate or maneuver your launcher force;
Those which involve other types of munitions, those not necessarily present on LACM warhead list;
Those that complex more than just primary PGM launch (i.e. air defense suppression, decoy launch, and so on);
Those where decision on how(and if) to proceed with the attack shall be taken on spot.
Trucks are cheap, simple, and easy to hide, store, and reload. These are serious advantages, but this is it.
In addition, bomber has a serious synergy with LACM(ASM) options dispersed throughout the region, i.e. it isn't just one option against another one. The same can be said about coordinating with ships and carrier-based aviation.
JH-11 was a typo, should be JH-XX. And as @Bltizo said the point of a medium bomber is to conduct strikes and patrols at distances roughly out the second island chain. Time on target using ground based missiles for that is a bit too long to hit moving targets reliably without having air frames to paint targets, air frames such as the JH-XX.
In addition a large MiG-31 or F-111 sized super sonic bomber has advantages beyond those @Gloire_bb has mentioned. A warplane of that size and engine profile necessarily can mount extremely powerful radars and electronic warfare equipment beyond that which can be jammed into a Flanker scale platform. You aren't getting E-war and radar coverage out of a truck launched missile my dude.
Personally I think such a platform is more a matter of time and priorities than it is a matter of interest.
always found that to be preposterous, as the gulf war have proven, cant even find all the scuds with boots on the ground.
Yes, and again that guy is hyping it as if the H-20 was "inadvertently exposed" ... IMO it looks like the grave of a certain enthusiast, but thing more.