The Chinese showed what the H-20 bomber would look like. As experts expected, the plane turned out to be similar to the American B-2. The start date of its operation was previously called the middle of the decade.
In the presentation video of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) at the Airshow China 2021 for the first time officially demonstrated the appearance of a promising Chinese stealth bomber Xian H-20.
Official images of the aircraft have been posted before, only on them it was possible to distinguish only a general conceptual vision.
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| New image of H-20. |
| Source: Dambiev |
In addition, in 2019, a model of a Chinese strategic bomber was posted online. Whether it is related to reality, it is impossible to say for sure.
The promising aircraft will be subsonic and made according to the "flying wing" aerodynamic scheme. The characteristics of the machine are kept secret. Earlier it was reported that the Chinese military wants to get a bomber with a long range (up to eight thousand kilometers), capable of carrying about ten tons of weapons.
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| New image of H-20. |
| Source: Dambiev |
If the information is correct, the new aircraft will be closer to the B-21 than to the B-2 Spirit. The first one, as the media write, will be smaller than its progenitor, and its price should be significantly lower than the cost of the B-2, which, according to some reports, reaches two billion dollars.
Most likely, we will soon be able to see the B-21 in reality. Earlier it became known that the United States has completed the construction of the first bombers of a new type.
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| Source: gazeta.ru |
Russia with its PAK DA program ("Promising Long-range Aviation Complex") is somewhat inferior to the Americans and the Chinese. According to the data provided, the first sample of a new bomber of a new generation will be assembled by 2023. That is, it will appear after H-20 and B-21.
On the other hand, Russia, unlike China, has relatively modern Tu-160 strategic bombers, some of which have also undergone a comprehensive modernization: we could see photos and videos of the new flight of the updated aircraft in September.
In addition to the modernization of the Tu-160 fleet, Russian specialists are making efforts to resume the construction of these machines from scratch.
In total, according to the contract between the Ministry of Defense and Tupolev from 2018, ten new "strategists" should be supplied to the military. Most likely, the first such machine will take to the air next year: previously it was assumed that it would make its first flight in 2021. These planes will become something of a "transitional link" on the way to PAK DA.
