The U.S. Military Has A Problem: China’s H-20 Stealth Could Change Everything
China is flexing its nuclear triad and one of the big legs of that powerful platform will be the new H-20 stealth bomber that resembles the American B-2. The Xian H-20 has that familiar flying wing design that looks like it stole design characteristics from the U.S. Air Force. Does it have the range to reach the United States for a nuclear bombing run while evading radar? That’s a head-scratching dilemma for American defense planners as they ponder Chinese aerial power. The H-20 has a reported range of 7,500 miles– enough to reach the homeland without refueling.
Kris Osborn at Warrior Maven describes the H-20 in the following manner. “It features a similar rounded upper fuselage, blended wing body, curved upper air inlets and essentially no vertical structures. There appears to be a fair amount of evidence, simply available to the naked eye, to demonstrate China’s overt ‘copycat’ maneuver.”
Bigger Payload Than American Bombers?
Moreover, the H-20’s munitions payload eclipses that of the B-52 and the B-2, if reports can be believed. It can deliver 45 tons of bombs and stand-off missiles. By comparison, the next-generation stealth bomber, the B-21, can only carry 15 tons of payload.
Whatever the Final Tally, It Has Long Range
H-20 will be an airplane to reckon with as it is believed to be nuclear-capable and maybe hypersonic-weapon capable. And it would also have the ability to attack Guam, South Korea, and Okinawa – all areas with U.S. military personnel. The H-20 is bad news for Taiwan as well.
It could perhaps be equipped with air-to-surface missiles to threaten American aircraft carriers. That may be a departure as China’s ground-based ship-killing missile, the DF-21D missile, has only been tested from a destroyer. It’s not clear if the DF-21D could be launched from airplanes, but China could likely have this capability in the coming years if the H-20 also advances as expected.
No comments:
Post a Comment