H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

sealordlawrence

Junior Member
»Ø¸´: H-6 Bomber Aircraft Discussions

Not with that amount of ordnance. It looks like the PLAAF is continuing to use the H-6 as it has for the last decade, both as a heavy Iron bomb platform and a ALCM carrier.
 

tphuang

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
VIP Professional
Registered Member
the Russians that were involved in the D30 project for H-6 mentioned that China is also looking for a MPA version of H-6K and I don't think that's too surprising. But this version is clearly for PLAAF and it also doesn't have the fit of an ASW aircraft.
 

i.e.

Senior Member
It's very possible and not a bad idea, considering the PLA does not have many MPA/ASW planes in the first place, and an H-6 could potentially fill both the cruise missile and the ASW role... but I'm not sure if there's enough space inside for all the dedicated avionics and work stations for MPA. And it's missing the hallmarks of an ASW platform, a MAD or provisions anddropping sonobuoys.

Noticed rear compartment has no external windows now, all crew members are in fwd section.

one could use a wing pod towed MAD prob. and belly bomb bay could be modified to drop sonobuoys.
 

Totoro

Major
VIP Professional
how many cruisse missiles fit inside h6 depend on the cruise missiles themselves. We dont know the insides of h6k's weapons bay but we do know the dimensions of the bay in the latter versions.

it is interesting that when we look at the images of earlier versions of h6 we can see that the bomb bay door are some 6,2 meters long. When we look at that new image of h6k we can tell that the bomb bay door is 6,5 meters long.

Using the images of the bomb bay of the original versions we can thus say the bomb bay is 6,2 m long, 1,26 meters wide and 1,25 meters high. (height to the beginning of those bomb rack holders is 0,91 meters, though centerline height is over a meter)

So it really depends on the type of mechanism and the missiles themselves. Maybe current missiles wont fit, maybe future versions will. One could, for example, fit 3-4 tomahawk missiles in a snug fit rotary launcher in such a bomb bay. (3 to 4 because im not sure how well the rear fins fold and how much do they stick out)

H6k's bay could be broader. Not the doors themselves but the insides. when one looks at the image posted here it is evident one could get extra ten or so cm on the sides of the bomb bay. doors themselves are 1,5 meters wide. it is the internal equipment and the ladder-like structures that make the bay more narrow than it is.
 

sealordlawrence

Junior Member
Totoro,

Can you please demonstrate how you did your working?

If what you say is correct, and the bomb bay has been lengthened to 6.5m, that would mean that it would be the perfect length to take the DH-10 ALCM which is 6.4m long (according to Jane's).
 

Totoro

Major
VIP Professional
I don't believe we can take anyone's word for granted when it comes to dimensions of chinese cruise missiles. that includes jane's, as their reports and newsbits about china were at times quite wrong. we can only talk about likelyhoods. Is it likely h6k was optimized for cruise missile launcher missions? i believe it is. therefore an air launched version is also optimized to fit inside it. Can we be certain? no we cant.

as for the lenght of the bomb bay doors i used that recent image of h6k, shown sideways and measures its length as well as the length of its open bomb bay door. knowing the dimensions of h6 it is easy to calculate the length. naturally some error is possible but image was of sufficient resolution to say that margin of error is within 2%.
 
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