Is there some sort of formal definition for what a penetrating stealth bomber what look like in terms of design and capabilities?
H-20 bomber (with H-X, JH-XX)
- Thread starter Deino
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and the f-117. stealth is just the latest technology that permits the existence of unescorted bombing. when the cold war kicked off both the us and russia were looking at the prospect of having to attack each other from ranges far in excess of what escort fighters could muster so it was simply natural to start designing bombers that could beat interception by themselves. it went from flying ever faster and higher until the guided missile put an end to that, then it went to sneaking in low under terrain shadow to beat the sensor, before today's low observability meta (still just trying to beat the sensor). but the core conceit is still just to be able to put bombs on target while beating any interception attempt. i think the future will probably see things come back around full circle, with better sensors and miniaturization shifting the meta back to beating the interceptor again, this time with point defense weaponry. flying fortress but 2050...
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I doubt either of those will be able to "penetrate" a sophisticated AD system in the modern day. They can get closer to launch their missiles but I don't think low-observability technology has the capability to deeply penetrate enemy territory or overfly the radar systems.
That's impossible to know without knowing too much to yap on this forum. US/China would not build those platforms if stealth doesn't work.
Even those who know cannot answer such a vague scenario. Go how deep against what defenses under what circumstances? Way too many variables to generalize.
Ofcourse they work, but not as people imagine. Stealth is not a cloak of invisibility. If you are close to a radar, you will be detected. Stealth only makes the range of the detection much smaller. And also there anti-stealth radars now and electro-optical detection methods that no stealth can overcome.
My guess is that overflying hostile territory would still be very risky, even for an all-aspect broadband stealth aircraft like the B-21 or H-20
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But remember that for Chinese stealth bombers, there is no practical requirement to overfly hostile territory.
Beyond the 1IC, it is mostly:
1. empty ocean with some scattered islands and naval ships as targets
2. a few cities and bases along coastlines
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From the Chinese perspective, a H-20 will definitely work.
But we can't say the same for the B-21 trying to penetrate a dense, overlapping network of sensors in China.
Well... Length: 57m. Wingspan: 48m. It is bigger than Airbus A300 and it is supersonic
Did you at least Check where this nonsense is from?