H-20 bomber (with H-X, JH-XX)

Maikeru said:

And if Russia prefers to remain neutral in this scenario?

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tphuang said:

Do you think china really cares if Russia says you can't fly over my air space? Russia can maintain plausible deniability by saying h20 is really hard to detect.

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Maikeru said:

In which case what is to stop B21s coming the other way?

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taxiya said:

Russia will stop it. You seem to think that US is in the equal position to Russia as China is, or to China as Russia is?

During the recent Sino-Russo joint strategic patrol, Chinese bombers and Russian bombers landed in each others' air bases. That is a first time and will continue. China and Russia are building a de facto military alliance like NATO, sharing their air spaces. The two have already cooperated on their joint air defence in north east Asia, reported some years ago.

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Kalec said:

Only useful when PLAAF plans to strike CONUS from Chinese mainland otherwise it is not needed urgently.

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ACuriousPLAFan said:

Yes. Because unlike China who has her interior terribly exposed to long-range missiles stationed along the First Island Chain, the US is perfectly shielded by the vastness of the Pacific. This geographical luckiness is one of the main contributors to the US victory in WW2.

In a hypothetical China-US war, China must be able to strike the military industrial capability of the US, just like how the US would do in the same situation.


Only if the world functions on a rectangular map.

Here is the layout of the First and Second Island Chains.
View attachment 102958
The First Island Chain spans from Hokkaido (some claim the line extends all the way north to the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula) through the Japanese archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and the Philippines before terminating around the islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

The Second Island Chain spans from Tokyo through the Bonin Islands and Guam before terminating north of New Guinea.

Let us assume that the PLAAF H-20s are stationed somewhere deep within China's interior. Here are 3 scenarios that the H-20 would be expected to operate in their strategic bombing runs against CONUS.

First - If the intended targets are located on the West Coast of CONUS, here is the flight path that the H-20s would take:
View attachment 102959
Notice how the flight path completely avoids the Japanese archipelago and the Kuril Islands, and fly across the northern Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka Peninsula and the Bering Sea. The first NATO forces that could directly intercept the flight path would have to be stationed in Alaska.

Second - If the intended targets are located somewhere in the Midwest of CONUS, here is the flight path that the H-20s would take:
View attachment 102960
The H-20's flight path moves further north into Far East Russia and the Arctic Ocean, completely bypassing both island chains in the Pacific. The first NATO forces that could directly intercept the flight path would have to be stationed in Alaska or Canada.

Third - If the intended targets are located on the East Coast of CONUS, here is the flight path that the H-20s would take:
View attachment 102961
In this scenario, we can see that the flight path of the H-20s has moved even further north, across Siberia and the Arctic Ocean before coming down south onto the North American continent. The first NATO forces that could directly intercept the flight path would have to be stationed in Canada.

In a nutshell - Unless the intended targets of the H-20s are located in Guam, Hawaii or anywhere south, there is little need for the H-20s to fly across the Pacific directly, and hence, reducing or even eliminating the chances of crossing those Pacific Island Chains. To fly across the First and Second Island Chains from China to CONUS would mean taking an extremely long and unnecessary detour, and would certainly require at least one aerial refueling for the entire journey.

In fact, there is no need for China to secure the Second Island Chain or even take over Guam from the US in order to allow the H-20s to do their bombing runs against CONUS. Just neutralize the US forces (and that of her allies) on those two island chains would suffice.

In principle, this works similarly as the ballistic missiles of the PLARF.

As a matter of fact - If the H-20s can be fitted with ultra-long-range standoff missiles that could fly thousands of kilometers to their targets, then the H-20s wouldn't even need to enter Alaskan or Canadian airspaces at all. Those H-20s only need to:
1. Fly over Siberia or Far East Russia;
2. Launch their missiles over the Bering Sea or the Arctic Ocean;
3. Make a U-turn;
4. Head back to their home bases in China; and
5. Let those missiles complete the rest of their journey.

Of course, as the global warming progresses, ice caps and icebergs in the Arctic would become thinner annd smaller, thus permitting more ships to transit through the northern ocean. In light of this, we should expect the Arctic Ocean to become a new battleground for supremacy between NATO and Russia + China.

Therefore, it would be advisable for the PLA to start conducting and intensifying joint exercises and training with their Russian counterparts in Siberia and Far East Russia, and began sending forces and equipment on a rotational basis into the Arctic Circle and the Arctic Ocean. In times of war, China and/or Russia would be able to provide escort and protection for those H-20s to conduct their bombing runs into CONUS.

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Deino said:

Can we come back to reality and - even if this is probably too early to be rated a flagship-thread - this is plain stupid!

The H-6 is already not a small aircraft and carries 4 YJ-12 externally ... and now you want the H-20 to carry 8 YJ-12 internally?! Never ever.

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TK3600 said:

Is it really that far fetched? B-2 can carry 16 AGM-154 and B-2 is not known for its payload either. H-6 is very small compared to other strategic bombers so is carrying more than H-6 really that crazy?

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TK3600 said:

Is it really that far fetched? B-2 can carry 16 AGM-154 and B-2 is not known for its payload either. H-6 is very small compared to other strategic bombers so is carrying more than H-6 really that crazy? Also H-6 should be able to carry 6x YJ-12 no?

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Atomicfrog said:

YJ-12 : 6.3 m (21 ft) x 0.756 m (2.48 ft)
JASSM : 4.27 m (14.0 ft) x 0.64 m ( 2.11 ft)

YJ-12 is huge...

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