New strategic bomber H-20 to make PLA Air Force a strong force

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (ChinaMil) — “We are developing the new-generation long range strike bomber (LRSB). You will see it in the future,” said the PLA Air Force commander Ma Xiaotian at a PLA Air Force open day event when answering reporters’ questions on September 1, 2016. Since then China’s new-generation LRSB has drawn extensive attention in the world.

Early on July 13, 2015, a Japanese scholar wrote an article titled “China to develop new type of long-range strategic bomber”, which referred to the H-20, a name that’s commonly used now. Someone compared it with America’s B-2 strategic bomber and called it the “red B-2”.

From J-20 to Y-20 and to Z-20, the continuous appearance of China’s “20 series” has shown the world the PLA Air Force’s historical breakthroughs in weapon and equipment development and marked that the Chinese aviation industry has entered the “Age 20”.

“20” is a code used for China’s new-generation aviation equipment and also implies these equipment’s combat capability will be formed around 2020.

Now that China is to develop a new-generation LRSB. Given the connotations of “20”, it makes sense to name the new long-range bomber “H-20”, but the official name is yet to be announced by Chinese military authorities.

China’s new strategic bomber to carry nuclear and regular weapons

China has overcome many technical difficulties in strategic bomber so far, including engine, air inlet, material and stealth technology. It is progressing fast on the development of precise guided munition, and has amassed experience in manufacturing the Y-20 military aircraft.

Therefore, the new-generation long-range bomber is likely to have the following characteristics.

First, good stealth performance. The new bomber will probably adopt the flying wing layout like American and Russian bombers to meet the requirement for stealth performance.

Second, ultra long range. The new bomber has an intercontinental flying range of more than 10,000km and combat radius of over 5,000km. With air refueling, it is able to fly and carry out missions around the globe.

Third, large bomb load. Aimed to lower the R&D cost and enhance strike capability, the new bomber will have a slightly smaller bomb load than B-2A (23 tons) but larger than H-6K.

Fourth, nuclear-regular integration. The new-generation long-range bomber will have both nuclear and regular strike capability to hit the enemy’s key links and systemic weaknesses.

Fifth, strong electronic combat capability. The new-generation long-range bomber is almost as good as a special electronic combat aircraft in electronic combat capability. It is able to disturb and destroy incoming missiles and other air and ground targets through a range of equipment including radar, electronic confrontation platform, high power microwave, laser and infrared equipment.

The bomber is also capable of large-capacity date fusion and transmission. It can serve as a C4ISR node and interact with large sensor platforms like UAV, early warning aircraft and strategic reconnaissance aircraft to share information and target data.

New bomber marks PLA Air Force’s transformation from a big force to a strong force.

The long-range strategic bomber is an indispensable part in a major country’s strategic strike system.

At the moment, the US and Russia both have their own long-range bombers, the former having B-52H, B-1B and B-2A and the latter having Tu-160 and Tu-95MS, and they have both plans for developing next-generation strategic bombers.

The large long-range bomber has always been a weak point for the PLA Air Force, which is at the critical juncture of moving from quantitative accumulation to qualitative change and from being a big force to a strong force.

The new-generation LRSB will considerably improve China’s strategic attack capability and make the PLA Air Force a strategic air force in the true sense.

It is also of great realistic significance for countering nuclear blackmail from superpowers, solving surrounding maritime disputes that impede China’s rise, and preserving world peace.

The article is written in Chinese by Zhang Lijun and Li Wei and published on the China Youth Daily, Feb. 16.

The followings are written in Chinese,

中国新一代远程轰炸机拥有五大突出特点
张礼军 李伟

来源:中国青年报  ( 2017年02月16日   12 版)

2016年9月1日,空军司令员马晓天在航空开放活动上回答媒体记者提问时表示:“我们现在发展新一代的远程打击轰炸机,将来你会看到的。”此后,中国新一代远程轰炸机引起社会各界广泛关注。

早在2015年7月13日,日本学者在《中国想研发一种新型远程战略轰炸机》的文章中称,这种新型远程战略轰炸机为轰-20。此后,许多人都称这种轰炸机为轰-20。还有人将其与美国的B-2战略轰炸机类比,称其为“红色B-2”。

近年来,从歼-20到运-20,再到直-20,中国“20系列”机型纷纷亮相,让世人看到了中国空军在武器装备发展上的历史性突破,也标志着中国航空工业进入到令人振奋的“20时代”。“20”表示这是全新一代的航空装备,也有“在2020年左右形成作战能力”的含义。如今,中国要发展自己的新一代远程打击轰炸机,必然会使用一个新名称。考虑到“20”所代表的含义,将其命名为“轰-20”有一定道理,但中国新一代远程轰炸机的名称究竟是什么,还有待官方正式宣布。

中国新一代远程轰炸机“核常兼备”

中国新一代远程轰炸机必须高起点研制,具有较强的隐身、洲际攻击和空中加油能力,同时要尽量做到稳定、可靠、省油。目前我国已经攻克战略轰炸机诸多技术难关,包括发动机、进气道、材料以及隐形技术等,各种精确制导弹药的发展也很快,并且已经有了制造运-20军用大飞机的经验。因此,未来我国新一代远程轰炸机可能具有以下突出特点。

一是隐身性好。战略轰炸机实施突防,可以采取超音速和隐身两种方式。要同时运用这两种方式,技术实现很难,经济上也难以承受。超音速突防技术上容易实现,造价和维护费用较低,出勤率高。但远程轰炸机只有在突防状态下才能超音速,全程超音速很难实现,其巡航速度依然是亚音速,易受到防空武器攻击。相比之下,隐身更有利于突防和提高生存能力。隐形轰炸机通过路径规划,可以顺利穿越对方防空系统和战斗机屏障间隙,从而安全突防和返航。美国的B-2A远程轰炸机就已实现真正意义上的隐身,美俄下一代远程战略轰炸机都追求通过隐身达到突防效果。我国歼-20、歼-31隐形飞机已经取得明显突破,隐形设计已不成问题,可靠性和技术成熟度较高。因此,我国新的轰炸机将可能会采用类似美俄的飞翼式布局,以满足隐身的需要。

二是超远航程。新的轰炸机应当具备1万多公里的洲际航程,作战半径要达到5000公里以上。通过空中加油,能够实现全球飞行、全球到达、全球作战。否则,其实战和威慑能力就会大打折扣。为了增加作战的灵活性和部署的安全性,轰炸机通常从内地起飞,不必占用宝贵的沿海基地。这样,新的轰炸机利用携带射程上千公里的巡航导弹,仍具备对第二岛链及印度洋周边的控制能力。

三是载弹量大。着眼降低研发成本和增加打击能力,我国新的轰炸机应该比B-2A的23吨载弹量略小,但大于轰-6K的载弹量。所以,新一代远程轰炸机要有足够大、足够深的弹仓,并且具备同时投弹分别命中目标的集群打击能力。只有这样,远程轰炸机才具有强大的火力,可对目标实施高效密集突击。

未来作战,我主要作战对手的航空火力很强,新的轰炸机要在歼击机的作战半径之外实施攻击,携带的精确制导炸弹和新一代空射巡航导弹必须具有很高的命中精度和较远的射程,从而提高远程轰炸机的突防能力和防区外精确打击能力。当然,新型轰炸机也不会过分强调单一的投弹重量,将更加注重体系打击能力。

四是“核常兼备”。过去的远程战略轰炸机,主要携带核武器,用于实施核打击。未来远程轰炸机仅具备核打击能力难以满足现代战争的需求,必须同时具备常规打击能力。因此,从我国新一代远程轰炸机的使用定位上看,虽然具有核打击能力,但主要还是作为常规战略打击力量使用,重点突击对方的关键节点和体系薄弱环节,提高己方的战场控制能力。

五是电子战能力强。轰炸机的电子战能力是轰炸机生存的秘密法宝。对于动辄上万公里的航程,没有任何战斗机、电子战飞机有足够的航程实行伴随护航和保障。远程轰炸机只有依靠自身的航系统和电子战系统实施信息对抗。为提高远程轰炸机的综合作战能力,更好地发挥其情报收集平台、电子战平台的作用,必须增强其信息化水平和信息作战能力。

新一代远程轰炸机机载电子设备将十分先进,电子系统功能强大。其电子战能力将相当于专用电子战飞机,能通过各种雷达、电子对抗平台、高能微波、激光和红外设备等,对来袭导弹及其他空地目标实施干扰和杀伤。该轰炸机将具有大容量的数据融合和传输能力,可充当C4ISR的节点,能和无人机、预警机、战略侦察机等大型传感平台联动,实现信息和目标数据的共享。

新一代远程轰炸机是中国空军由大到强的重要标志

远程战略轰炸机是一个大国战略打击体系中不可或缺的一环,是大国的战略支柱、重要支撑和“身份证”。目前,美俄均拥有自己的远程轰炸机,美国分别是B-52H、B-1B、B-2A,俄罗斯则拥有图-160和图-95MS,并且两国都提出了下一代战略轰炸机的研发计划。

大型远程轰炸机一直是中国空军的一个软肋,中国空军目前正处在由量变积累到质变跨越、由大到强的转型关键时期。着眼未来全球竞争态势和维护我国大国地位的需要,特别是建设一支空天一体、攻防兼备强大战略型空军的需要,我军必须具备强大的远程打击能力。否则,我们“攻”的能力就会大打折扣。

新一代远程打击轰炸机将显著提高我国的战略进攻能力,使人民空军成为真正意义上的战略空军,使我军现代化水平再上一个新台阶。对于贯彻执行积极防御的战略方针、形成中国空中战略威慑能力意义重大。这对于打破超级大国的不对等核讹诈、解决困扰中国崛起的周边海洋纠纷、维护世界和平等都具有极为重要的现实意义。

(作者单位:解放军后勤学院 国防大学)

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