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

Allegedly taken at SAC. If this is authentic and recent, it could hint that the JH-XX bomber might indeed be in development.

Also, could this be related to the model of the weapons bay that was posted earlier (one that everybody thought represented the J-20's or FC-31's bays)?



Interesting times!

SinoSoldier said:

Allegedly taken at SAC. If this is authentic and recent, it could hint that the JH-XX bomber might indeed be in development.

Also, could this be related to the model of the weapons bay that was posted earlier (one that everybody thought represented the J-20's or FC-31's bays)?

View attachment 46502

Interesting times!

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Well, the photo looks like some kind of school trip to some place that looks like a museum. You can clearly see a bunch of high school (maybe college) kids who are wearing the same kind of t-shirts for some event...

So... I don’t think this is evidence for some top-secret military program.

vesicles said:

Well, the photo looks like some kind of school trip to some place that looks like a museum. You can clearly see a bunch of high school (maybe college) kids who are wearing the same kind of t-shirts for some event...

So... I don’t think this is evidence for some top-secret military program.

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Indeed ... but it has some resemblance to this 3D-concept.

Deino said:

Indeed ... but it has some resemblance to this 3D-concept.

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IMO the nose more resembles the JH-XX, specifically the distinctive "twin panel"/F-111 style cockpit/canopy, whereas the shape of the concept in your picture suggests to me the canopy would probably be sized more like a J-20/F-22/F-35 style.

Deino said:

Indeed ... but it has some resemblance to this 3D-concept.

View attachment 46503 View attachment 46504

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hmm interesting swept wing design...

SinoSoldier said:

Allegedly taken at SAC. If this is authentic and recent, it could hint that the JH-XX bomber might indeed be in development.

Also, could this be related to the model of the weapons bay that was posted earlier (one that everybody thought represented the J-20's or FC-31's bays)?

View attachment 46502

Interesting times!

Click to expand...

Source?

And what weapons bay model was posted earlier? I must have missed it.

vesicles said:

Well, the photo looks like some kind of school trip to some place that looks like a museum. You can clearly see a bunch of high school (maybe college) kids who are wearing the same kind of t-shirts for some event...

So... I don’t think this is evidence for some top-secret military program.

Click to expand...

I think it definitely does look like some kind of school trip or guided tour.

However, I'm not sure if it is necessarily a museum. The walls look rather spartan, and the green polished floor reminds me of a workshop. But I've been to a few shoddily arranged theme parks as well, so this photo could definitely have been taken inside a low cost "theme park" or "museum"... but it also looks like it could be part of a real lab or workshop.

And the cockpit simulators unfortunately don't help us much, because they look like they could be actual proper simulators for a lab (we've seen simulators with far less "professional" set ups than this), or they could be very complex video games/toys.

Same goes for the aircraft nose in the background -- it might be a scale mock up of a real aircraft that was being researched, or it might just be another poorly implemented part of the "theme park".


So imo it's pretty hard to tell if this photo might actually be legit and taken at part of SAC or not.
It also is not unprecedented for Chinese students to be given exposure to part of an aviation complex, especially if it's a declassified low risk area -- I still remember the photo of that row of Chinese kids sitting in front of a newly built Y-8GX6 at Shaanxi.

It could swing either way, without any additional information at hand.

Bltizo said:

I think it definitely does look like some kind of school trip or guided tour.

However, I'm not sure if it is necessarily a museum. The walls look rather spartan, and the green polished floor reminds me of a workshop. But I've been to a few shoddily arranged theme parks as well, so this photo could definitely have been taken inside a low cost "theme park" or "museum"... but it also looks like it could be part of a real lab or workshop.

And the cockpit simulators unfortunately don't help us much, because they look like they could be actual proper simulators for a lab (we've seen simulators with far less "professional" set ups than this), or they could be very complex video games/toys.

Same goes for the aircraft nose in the background -- it might be a scale mock up of a real aircraft that was being researched, or it might just be another poorly implemented part of the "theme park".


So imo it's pretty hard to tell if this photo might actually be legit and taken at part of SAC or not.
It also is not unprecedented for Chinese students to be given exposure to part of an aviation complex, especially if it's a declassified low risk area -- I still remember the photo of that row of Chinese kids sitting in front of a newly built Y-8GX6 at Shaanxi.

It could swing either way, without any additional information at hand.

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But I think vesicles definitely has a point. No company would ever allow civilians, much less high school or college kids, anywhere near sensitive information. It's also possible that the JH-XX has long been canceled and is being slowly "declassified".

Perhaps the following poster might provide some context (translation needed). A representative of the Shenyang Bureau of Labor was allegedly present at the exhibit.

SinoSoldier said:

But I think vesicles definitely has a point. No company would ever allow civilians, much less high school or college kids, anywhere near sensitive information. It's also possible that the JH-XX has long been canceled and is being slowly "declassified".

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Actually vesicles was saying that the photo probably showed a museum (aka not an actual workshop or lab as part of SAC). I think that's a reasonable argument, but IMO everything in the photo could also be an actual lab or workshop as well.

The issue is what the visit was actually about -- I agree that civilians would not be let near any sensitive information, but at the same time there's nothing in the picture to suggest there is anything "sensitive".

The cockpit flight simulators are probably not particularly sensitive. The mock up of the potential JH-XX nose in the background is arguably the most "sensitive" -- but not necessarily because of what may be inside, but probably because of the fact that it exists in the first place, because if this photo was actually taken at SAC then the presence of that mock up means that they've likely done some research work into the aircraft in the past. Whether it means the project had since been cancelled with no active work on it at present, is another matter.


edit: also, what weapons bay photo are you talking about before?

edit 2: Ah that picture. I believe that photo and this nose is probably unrelated. The configuration of that photo of the weapons bay is almost definitely intended for a fighter considering the size of the PL-10 in that photo being used to gauge the size of it. This nose/cockpit mockup otoh definitely seems more consistent with a bomber/long range striker than a fighter.