H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

ACuriousPLAFan · Oct 26, 2022

Interesting find from the history archive.

Xi'an H-6I bomber after successfully conducting its maiden flight in 1978. H-6I is basically H-6 but with an extra two engines (Rolls Royce Spey Mk 512) on pylons of each wing.

Artist illustrations of the Xi'an H-8 bomber deisgn proposals as successor to the Xi'an H-6 bomber but was never built.

Main design solution for H-8 would be powered by 4 WS-6J engines, with the backup design solution powered by 6 WJ-6J engines or Pratt & Whitney JT-3D engines. None were ever built, however.

Had H-8 been put into mass production in the 1980s or 1990s instead of continuing with the H-6 series, China would be able to comfortably cover Guam and Darwin from mainland bases, or even Diego Garcia from bases in the South China Sea. Achieving that of all without refueling, and thus, expanding China's anti-ship and anti-base aerial umbrella even further than what we are having right now.

It's a shame that China didn't pursue this project any further than paper drawings. H-8 could very well be analogus to the B-52 and Tu-95 (albeit with inferior performance), and would be perfect in playing similar roles of complementing the upcoming Xi'an H-20 stealth bombers compared to the H-6.

Deino · Oct 26, 2022

ACuriousPLAFan said:
Interesting find from the history archive.

Xi'an H-6I bomber after successfully conducting its maiden flight in 1978. H-6I is basically H-6 but with an extra two engines (Rolls Royce Spey Mk 512) on pylons of each wing.
View attachment 100207

Artist illustrations of the Xi'an H-8 bomber deisgn proposals as successor to the Xi'an H-6 bomber but was never built.
View attachment 100208
Main design solution for H-8 would be powered by 4 WS-6J engines, with the backup design solution powered by 6 WJ-6J engines or Pratt & Whitney JT-3D engines. None were ever built, however.

Had H-8 been put into mass production in the 1980s or 1990s instead of continuing with the H-6 series, China would be able to comfortably cover Guam and Darwin from mainland bases, or even Diego Garcia from bases in the South China Sea. Achieving that of all without refueling, and thus, expanding China's anti-ship and anti-base aerial umbrella even further than what we are having right now.

It's a shame that China didn't pursue this project any further than paper drawings. H-8 could very well be analogus to the B-52 and Tu-95 (albeit with inferior performance), and would be perfect in playing similar roles of complementing the upcoming Xi'an H-20 stealth bombers compared to the H-6.

Well … that’s „my“ artwork (at least the yellow one) from my first book.

Red tsunami · Oct 26, 2022

ACuriousPLAFan said:
Interesting find from the history archive.

Xi'an H-6I bomber after successfully conducting its maiden flight in 1978. H-6I is basically H-6 but with an extra two engines (Rolls Royce Spey Mk 512) on pylons of each wing.
View attachment 100207

Artist illustrations of the Xi'an H-8 bomber deisgn proposals as successor to the Xi'an H-6 bomber but was never built.
View attachment 100208
Main design solution for H-8 would be powered by 4 WS-6J engines, with the backup design solution powered by 6 WJ-6J engines or Pratt & Whitney JT-3D engines. None were ever built, however.

Had H-8 been put into mass production in the 1980s or 1990s instead of continuing with the H-6 series, China would be able to comfortably cover Guam and Darwin from mainland bases, or even Diego Garcia from bases in the South China Sea. Achieving that of all without refueling, and thus, expanding China's anti-ship and anti-base aerial umbrella even further than what we are having right now.

It's a shame that China didn't pursue this project any further than paper drawings. H-8 could very well be analogus to the B-52 and Tu-95 (albeit with inferior performance), and would be perfect in playing similar roles of complementing the upcoming Xi'an H-20 stealth bombers compared to the H-6.

Just some artwork

MwRYum · Oct 27, 2022

ACuriousPLAFan said:
It's a shame that China didn't pursue this project any further than paper drawings. H-8 could very well be analogus to the B-52 and Tu-95 (albeit with inferior performance), and would be perfect in playing similar roles of complementing the upcoming Xi'an H-20 stealth bombers compared to the H-6.

The timing will tell you why: 1978.

Not to mention the economic reality of the time, the design philosophy of such B-52 / Tu-95 -ish platform already obsolete. It is the large B-52 / Tu-95 fleets that maintained by the US and USSR, plus evolved mission package that they have (ALCM, something that China won't able to make for themselves until well into 1990s) that keep them around.

If China gonna make new any new aerial platform, it'd be better money spent on something such as the alleged H-20, something that's has stealth characteristics, proper operational radius and payload capacity.

ACuriousPLAFan · Oct 27, 2022

MwRYum said:
The timing will tell you why: 1978.

Not to mention the economic reality of the time, the design philosophy of such B-52 / Tu-95 -ish platform already obsolete. It is the large B-52 / Tu-95 fleets that maintained by the US and USSR, plus evolved mission package that they have (ALCM, something that China won't able to make for themselves until well into 1990s) that keep them around.

If China gonna make new any new aerial platform, it'd be better money spent on something such as the alleged H-20, something that's has stealth characteristics, proper operational radius and payload capacity.

China is still producing H-6 variants well into the 2010s.

Meanwhile, the H-20 only started its development in the early-2010s, or even in the mid/late-2000s at the earliest possible time if the work on H-20 began secretly much earlier than reported.

Strangelove · Oct 28, 2022

drowingfish · Oct 28, 2022

ACuriousPLAFan said:
China is still producing H-6 variants well into the 2010s.

Meanwhile, the H-20 only started its development in the early-2010s, or even in the mid/late-2000s at the earliest possible time if the work on H-20 began secretly much earlier than reported.

is china not still producing h-6 now? in my opinion they are still a bit short on numbers

Chilled_k6 · Oct 28, 2022

drowingfish said:
is china not still producing h-6 now? in my opinion they are still a bit short on numbers

I think they are. H-6N was introduced pretty recently (first seen 2019). It's a "stopgap" strategic bomber before H-20 since it has mid-air refueling and is able to fire air launched ballistic and hypersonic missiles, so I don't think there's a reason to stop production.

drowingfish · Oct 29, 2022

Chilled_k6 said:
I think they are. H-6N was introduced pretty recently (first seen 2019). It's a "stopgap" strategic bomber before H-20 since it has mid-air refueling and is able to fire air launched ballistic and hypersonic missiles, so I don't think there's a reason to stop production.

i personally dont think H-6N is or should be a stopgap. being able to launch wz8 and ALBM are pretty useful especially if it can be done at scale. a few dozens of those constantly launching wz8 for reconnaissance can achieve some interesting results.

YES · Oct 30, 2022

Chilled_k6 said:
I think they are. H-6N was introduced pretty recently (first seen 2019). It's a "stopgap" strategic bomber before H-20 since it has mid-air refueling and is able to fire air launched ballistic and hypersonic missiles, so I don't think there's a reason to stop production.

it's pretty much the same reason why the USAF kept the b52 right now, dropping the airborne super sonic missile,

H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

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