China has big plans for a modern bomber

China's defense industry has been rapidly modernizing, though a few key gaps still lie between the nation and its bid to become a major military power. One such gap: a long-range bomber.

Right now, Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC) builds the H-6K, a version of the 1950s Soviet Tu-16 Badger medium bomber modernized for avionics and increased range. But a series of reports demonstrate that, along with fielding modern missiles and expanding its range of military activities across the Pacific Ocean, China is planning to build out its strategic bomber force with a new generation of planes.

After years of speculation, in September 2016 People's Liberation Army Air Force commander General Ma Xiaotian announced that China was researching the development of a long-range bomber. The news was reflected in the 2017 U.S. Defense Department Annual Report on the Chinese Military, which said China was developing a strategic bomber with a "nuclear mission."

The future strategic bomber, tentatively identified by Chinese Internet commentators as H-20, is believed to be a flying wing bomber designed for range and stealth and built by XAC. Since the H-20 needs to have a range of around 6,200 miles in order to strike strategic intercontinental targets while carrying a useful payload of 10-20 tons, it will need four turbofan engines. Those turbofan engines are likely to be non-afterburning versions of the WS-10 engine, which would provide about 8 tons of thrust.

All that would make the H-20 similar in size to the the United States' B-2 by Northrom Grumman, a craft that also has four 8-ton engines. It would be armed with bombs and, likely, systems like the 1,200-mile-range CJ-10 land attack cruise missiles, which would be carried in internal weapon bays. Future weapons could include GB-6A stealth cruise missiles and hypersonic scramjet missiles.

Read more at: https://www.popsci.com/explaining-chinas-big-bomber-plans#page-2