H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

ACuriousPLAFan said:

Yes. Though the YJ-83K doesn't seem to have much of a long range compared to other mainline AShMs in the PLA arsenal, and is both non-LO and subsonic. So I'd suppose that such loadouts on a H-6 would be used for the finishing-off segment of anti-ship missions?

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I am hesitant if the rotary launcher described is intended for H-6K family's internal weapons bay to begin with; from a horizontal footprint and depth perspective in particular. For all we know it may just be work done as part of gaining experience rather than for a specific project, and just recognizing that an internal rotary launcher in general is useful for a strategic bomber (whether H-20 or otherwise).

That said, if it is compatible with H-6K's bomb bay from a footprint perspective, I suspect the missiles themselves would not be a direct YJ-83K family. Given what we know most payloads on internal rotary launchers look like, their folded physical footprints tend to be quite streamlined and low profile, which YJ-83K is not (even if it was a folded mid-wing version).
If this was to be implemented in practice they might have to develop a whole new missile for it.

ACuriousPLAFan said:

CJ-20 is basically the air-launched variant of CJ-10.

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The nomenclature is a bit confusing, because "CJ" is sometimes used interchangeably with the "DF" prefix, for a ground launched weapon.
DF/CJ-10, DF/CJ-100, DF/CJ-1000 are three different weapons with CJ/DF prefixes.

I am not sure if CJ-20 is an actual designation -- my understanding is KD-20 is the air launched version of DF/CJ-10, but that CJ-20 isn't used for the air launched version.

Speaking of the H-6, would it be possible to dual-rack a cruise missile like say AKF-98A (or any other similar cruise missile in this class; VLO or non-VLO) on the two innermost pylons, and leaving the outermost for at least one, for a grand total of 10 cruise missiles an H-6 could carry (or even dual rack all three hardpoints)? Or even as well carry a single one in the IWB for a total of 11? I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions and weight of a cruise missile like AKF-98A and KD-20, but I do know that the KD-20 is a considerably larger and heavier cruise missile, and the H-6 can still carry at least six. A J-16 should be able to carry at least 3-4 AKF-98As max.

KD-20 LACMs of course provide long-range + a large warhead, but if you wanted more magazine depth for these H-6s for whatever mission they're doing, this could work, whilst using less H-6s. AKF-98A is a smaller class cruise missile, but will still be in the 300-400+ km range class, and still has a relatively large warhead. So if you don't need such large standoff range, along with the fact that KD-20s are likely much more expensive given the size, these could suffice for larger volume with less assets, and further increase the firepower/strike capabilities of these medium-range H-6s.

TheWanderWit said:

Speaking of the H-6, would it be possible to dual-rack a cruise missile like say AKF-98A (or any other similar cruise missile in this class; VLO or non-VLO) on the two innermost pylons, and leaving the outermost for at least one, for a grand total of 10 cruise missiles an H-6 could carry (or even dual rack all three hardpoints)? Or even as well carry a single one in the IWB for a total of 11? I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions and weight of a cruise missile like AKF-98A and KD-20, but I do know that the KD-20 is a considerably larger and heavier cruise missile, and the H-6 can still carry at least six. A J-16 should be able to carry at least 3-4 AKF-98As max.

KD-20 LACMs of course provide long-range + a large warhead, but if you wanted more magazine depth for these H-6s for whatever mission they're doing, this could work, whilst using less H-6s. AKF-98A is a smaller class cruise missile, but will still be in the 300-400+ km range class, and still has a relatively large warhead. So if you don't need such large standoff range, along with the fact that KD-20s are likely much more expensive given the size, these could suffice for larger volume with less assets, and further increase the firepower/strike capabilities of these medium-range H-6s.

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It's all a matter of missile footprint and weight, if those are able to be supported on the pylons then yes why not.

If you are asking specifically about AKF-98A, it may be a bit more doubtful simply because multipacking a weapon on a single pylon requires a compact lateral footprint and AKF-98 doesn't have folding tailfins.


But obviously if they wanted to develop such a weapon or variant of AKF-98A it is easily within their means