Key Points and Summary – China’s Xi’an H-6 strategic bomber, a licensed copy of the Soviet-era Tu-16, has been a mainstay of its air force for decades.
-Initially a nuclear platform, it evolved into a dual-role conventional bomber. While its only combat use was by Iraq’s air force in the 1980s, the H-6 has been significantly modernized.
The latest and most dangerous variant, the H-6N, is now considered a “carrier killer,” capable of launching anti-ship ballistic missiles and potentially even a hypersonic weapon, posing a formidable threat to naval forces in the Indo-Pacific region.
China’s H-6 Bomber Is Truly Old…But Lethal
According to WarHistory.org, a strategic bomber is defined as “a mid-to-long range heavy bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy’s capacity to wage war.
Unlike tactical bombers and ground attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are built to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets (e.g., major military installations, factories, and cities). “
Without a doubt, in terms of prestige and real-world battle-proven performances, the United States of America is the world leader in strategic bombers, as manifested in the B-52 Stratofortress (AKA the “BUFF”), the B-1B Lancer (AKA the “Bone”), and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. But that’s not to say America’s adversaries haven’t also developed their fair share of deadly and highly capable strategic bombers.
Russia has the quartet of Tupolev bombers, namely the Tu-22M (NATO reporting name “Backfire”), Tu-95 “Bear,” Tu-16 Badger, and Tu-160 “Blackjack” (or as the Russians themselves call it, the “Bely Lebed [White Swan]”). And then there’s the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with the Xi’an H-6.
Xi’an H-6 Initial History
If the Cold War-vintage H-6 looks strangely familiar. As is true of quite a few warbirds in the fleets of the PRC’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF), it is a copy of a Soviet-designed warplane. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” as the saying goes, and in this instance, the flatteree in question is the Tu-16 mentioned above, which had debuted operationally in April 1952. In September 1957, the Soviets signed an agreement to license production of the Tu-16 to the PRC.
Assembly of the PRC Badger copies was assigned to the Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (headquartered in the Yanliang district of the eponymous provincial capital city of Shaanxi Province). The first Xian-built production H-6 bomber, completely manufactured in China, made its maiden flight on 24 December 1968.
The H-6 was initially designed as a purely nuclear bomber, but by 1976, it was converted to a dual nuclear/conventional bombing role. An estimated 231 airframes have been built as of 2020. Besides the PLAAF and PLANAF, the bomber was also purchased in modest numbers by the air forces of Egypt and Iraq.
The latest and scariest variant is the H-6N, which can carry anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs)—including what appears to be a hypersonic maneuvering missile—and is therefore considered to be a “carrier killer.”
H-6 Technical Specifications and Vital Stats
Crew: 4 (pilot, co-pilot, navigator/bombardier, gunner)
Fuselage Length: 34.8 m (114 ft 2 in)
Height: 10.36 m (34 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 33 m (108 ft 3 in)
Max Takeoff Weight: 95,000 kg (209,439 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × WP-8 turbojet engines, generating 93.1 kilonewtons (20,900 pounds-force) of thrust
Max Airspeed: Mach 0.82 (1,014 km/h, 630 mph, 570 knots)
Ferry Range: 6,000 km (3,728 miles)
Combat Range 1,800 km (1,120 miles)
Service Ceiling: 13,100 m (42,980 ft).)
Armament:
Guns: 2× 23mm cannons in remote dorsal turret, 2× 23mm cannons in remote ventral turret, 2× 23mm cannons in operated tail turret; some specimens also 1× 23mm cannons in the nose
Missiles: 6× YJ-63 missile (anti-ship or air-to-surface); 6× CJ-10/ CJ-20 (air launched land attack cruise missile); 6× YJ-12 (anti-ship cruise missile); 1× CH-AS-X-13 (H-6N variant only), 4× KD-21 (anti-ship ballistic missile) (H-6K variant only)
Bombs: 12,000 kg (26,400 lb.) of free-fall bombs or guide bombs
Operational History in Brief
As far as we can ascertain, the only entity to use the H-6 in combat was then-strongman Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Configuring their bombers to fire the Silkworm anti-ship missile, the Iraqi H-6 drivers managed to inflict some damage on Iran’s cargo vessels.
The first such “blooding” took place on 5 February 1988, when an IqAF H-6D scored a hit on the Iranian freighter Entekhab. Over the course of the remaining six months of that conflict, IqAF H-6Ds scored hits with their Silkworms against an additional 14 Iranian tankers and bulk carriers. In addition, one IqAF H-6D was shot down by an Iranian Air Force F-14.
The remaining three IqAF H-6Ds were destroyed in American bombing raids against Al Taqaddum Air Base in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, AKA Operation Desert Storm.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
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