H-20 bomber (with H-X, JH-XX)
- Thread starter Deino
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No I don’t have either.
Hi
a safe way to say first flight & induction of H20 can be or should be
around after 5/8 years of B21 launching as China is closing the gap
of development against USA however it will definitely be less then
the gap between F22 and J20 launching or ready to be inducted
thank you
a safe way to say first flight & induction of H20 can be or should be
around after 5/8 years of B21 launching as China is closing the gap
of development against USA however it will definitely be less then
the gap between F22 and J20 launching or ready to be inducted
thank you
if this is a real aircraft that they're looking at making, it looks like it is a mid sized tactical striker/interceptor, like a PLAAF analog to the Mig-31 but stealthy. Would fit well into Shenyang's expertise. It could play a niche as a survivable and affordable medium range/payload ISR, strike and interceptor platform especially if they can get the unit price into the ~100M USD range. In my opinion it would also be a good attempt into a tailless design as a striker would not have the aerodynamic performance requirements of a fighter, but also would be closer aerodynamically to a fighter than a bomber.A cropped screen capture, taken from a CNY greeting from Shenyang. Not sure if this is relevant, but this thread will have to do.
To set the stage, the MiG-31 Foxhound is a further improvement of the MiG-25 Foxbat.
The MiG-25 was born thanks the need driven by the Soviet Air Force to intercept American B-58 Hustler and B-70 Valkryie supersonic strategic bombers that are capable of speeds of Mach 2.0 and Mach 3.1 respectively. These two bombers, both of which are at the WIP stage at the time, cannot be intercepted by any Soviet fighters in service. The Soviet High Command were panicked (and reasonably so) with the prospects of American supersonic bombers that were literally unstoppable and potentially capable of delivering nuclear warheads on Soviet military targets and cities unhindered.
However, we all know that the work on the B-58 and B-70 were eventually shelved, and the MiG-25s were then relegated to normal interceptor roles close to the frontlines and borders of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.
Meanwhile, the MiG-31 was introduced to introduce massive improvements upon the hastily-designed, crudely-machined and roughly-put together MiG-25.
Therefore, if the SAC JH-XX is indeed a real thing, it would be a tactical bomber, or (at most) a fighter-bomber. There is no need to design the JH-XX to also play the role of an interceptor, simply because the role of intercepting enemy fighters and bombers can be sufficiently fulfilled by other fighters in the PLAAF and PLANAF, i.e. J-11 and J-20.
Sure, the JH-XX would be great to have supersonic capability, but that feature would be better utilized for getting behind enemy lines and through enemy anti-air defenses, drop payload on time-sensitive and/or objective-sensitive targets, then high-tail out of the area ASAP.
Other than the above, JH-XX should complement the J-16 and JH-7 by playing the role of anti-ship strike and small anti-air missile trucks (the H-20 being the bigger one if the PLAAF desires).
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In terms of role, it should be replacing the JH-7 which is already almost 40 years old and getting to be obsolete even with modern electronics. JH-7 isn't too survivable and uses obsolete turbojet engines with low fuel efficiency. The Mig-31 seems to have taken on a tactical ground striking role as well with their use of the Kinzhal missiles, though it's clearly an interceptor first, while JH-7 is a strike fighter first, and that's the role that a JH-X should have.
However, with modern electronics wouldn't a figher-bomber sized plane also be able to wield air to air missiles and take a secondary interceptor role? Other fighter-bombers like Jaguars, F-15E, etc. can also wield air to air missiles in addition to their primary role.
J-16 is already replacing the JH-7. I think there might be a case for having a JH-XX but what it would replace in that scenario would be the J-16 and H-6 for some particular high value roles which it can bring supercharged performance too. But it might end up being a low volume asset if it is indeed procured for those kinds of roles.
It will be interesting to see the combo of H-20 and hypersonic missiles. US focused on stealth. Russians focused on missiles. But combining them could have a better synergy. There is little warning, and it could be from anywhere. Once it is on the way there is little reaction time and you cannot shoot it down. Perfect for valuable targets like carriers and key bases. It would force enemy to over dedicate air defense and halt their offensive operations. As we know US rely on air power for this role which is expensive.
Technically what you said is correct regarding JH-XX's relation to the JH-7. But there's something else that should be in mind- the designated payload for the JH-XX.
If the JH-XX is meant to function as a strike fighter like the JH-7, then sure. However, her payload capacity could become lower than what is desired, since being part-fighter (and part-bomber) means that the airframe needs to have certain degree of maneuverability that normal bombers don't have. This is why you see the F-15 is capable of doing extreme-G nimble moves, but you don't see the B-1B doing the same.
Moreover, the requirement for the airframe to be VLO means that unlike the JH-7, all the missiles and/or bombs must be carried inside the weapons bay of the JH-XX when operating in high-risk and high-threat airspaces. To carry enough munition payloads inside the weapons bay that would justify JH-XX's role as a bomber, that means the plane itself would have to be bigger in dimension, and hence, affecting its overall maneuverability.
Personally, I would prefer that JH-XX be more of a tactical bomber. Instead of trying to be half-bomber and half-fighter, the JH-XX would focus on better stealth, supersonic speed and larger payload capacity than her fighter peers.
Plus, there's the missile truck role for the JH-XX to play a part in, whether the missiles are for ground attack or anti-air. The point is to have JH-XXs carrying huge loads of AAMs and patrol outside of the battlefield airspace. They would then launch AAMs against enemy warplanes detected in the battlefield airspace upon receiving command and/or request relayed from frontline allied fighters and/or allied AEW&C aircrafts, and have them guide those AAMs towards their targets.
You could also say that the Russians are going for stealth too, with the PAK-DA stealth bomber project that they are working on right now.