China 's strike aircraft is still taking the number
Chinese strike aircraft began to be created as part of the new PLA Air Force due to massive supplies from the USSR. At first, People's China received piston-engined aircraft from the Second World War and the first post-war years. These were one and a half hundred Tu-2 dive bombers and Il-10 attack aircraft, and a little later - 13 Tu-4 heavy bombers, which in the USSR itself were copied from the American B-29. During the Korean War, China hardly used bombers. Nevertheless, nine Tu-2s were lost. After the end of the war, China continued to receive the most modern aviation equipment from the Soviet Union at that time, in particular, at least 500 Il-28 jet bombers. In the late 1950s, China received five Tu-16 strategic jet bombers. In the 1960s, at least 100 Il-28s under the name N-5 and at least 125 Tu-16s under the name N-6A were produced in China without a license. Both of these bombers could carry free-fall nuclear bombs. For naval aviation, H-6D equipped with the YJ-62 and YJ-81 PKR were produced in limited quantities. Up to 40 Il-28 and N-5 were delivered by China to the DPRK.
Development of strike aviation
The first combat aircraft of Chinese design was the attack aircraft Q-5 (A-5 in the export version). It was created on the basis of the J-6 fighter (a copy of the Soviet MiG-19) – but nevertheless had no direct Soviet analogues. The first flight of this machine took place in 1965, it was in production until 2012. The aircraft was produced in many different modifications, including Western (French and Italian) avionics. The number of aircraft produced is unknown, it can reach 1.3 thousand. At least 150 of them were exported. The largest buyer was Pakistan (58 vehicles), 40 attack aircraft of this type were received by the DPRK. Approximately 20 Q-5s were purchased by Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sudan. To date, the Q-5 has been withdrawn from the combat composition of the Chinese Air Force and naval aviation. But, apparently, a significant number (up to a thousand cars) remain in storage.
In the early 1990s, the JH-7 bomber began entering service with the PLA Air Force and Naval Aviation, replacing the H-5 and most of the Q-5. This aircraft has no direct foreign analogues, but it has similarities in a number of parameters with the Soviet Su-24, European Jaguar and Tornado. At least 60 aircraft of this type were produced (received only by naval aviation), then production of an improved version of the JH-7A was started (avionics improved, armament strengthened), which continues to this day. The bomber is equipped with a licensed version of the British Spey engine.
In the XXI century, a kind of "rebirth" was experienced by the hopelessly seemingly outdated N-6 bomber. Back in the 1990s, approximately 30 H-6G were produced and converted from H-6D, which were used in naval aviation as electronic warfare and cruise missile guidance aircraft. Currently, an H-6J variant has been created and is being produced to replace it. The main ones were the combat variants of the N-6N/M/K, capable of carrying the CJ-10 KRVB. Production of the H-6N has begun, which is capable of carrying supersonic CJ-100 KRVB, as well as the DF-21D ballistic missile defense system. In addition, at least 18 HU-6 tankers for the Air Force and six H-6DU for PLA naval aviation were built on the basis of the H-6.
Missile armament
As for the missile armament of Chinese bombers, it should be noted the aforementioned CJ-10 missile launcher, which is part of a large family of cruise missiles created by the synthesis of the Soviet X-55 and the American Tomahawk (" From the Han Dynasty to Xi Jinping ", "HBO", 02.07.21). In the 1970s and 1980s, the YJ-62 aviation PKR (based on the ship's HY-2, which had the Soviet P-15 as its "ancestor") and YJ-81 (part of the YJ-8 PKR family) were developed, created on the basis of the French "Exocet").
In the 1990s - 2000s, on the basis of the Soviet supersonic X–31 missile, the YJ-12 supersonic RCC and the YJ-91 anti-radar missile were also created. More than a thousand X-31, X-29, and X-59 air-to-surface missiles were purchased directly in Russia. China is still lagging behind in creating its own (that is, having no foreign prototypes) air-to-surface missiles. It is possible, however, to note the AR-1B rocket (with laser guidance, flight range of 10 km), the TL-6 aviation RCS (range of 35 km) and TL-10 (range of 20 km), on both RCS the active radar GPS is supplemented by IR and TV GPS.
Current state
As mentioned above, the Q-5 attack aircraft have now been decommissioned, although they remain in storage in large numbers. At the same time, China is now confidently among the three world leaders in the development of combat UAVs (" Technologies of a deserted war ", "HBO", 21.05.21), they are the ones that replace the attack aircraft over the battlefield. In general, China fits perfectly into the latest concepts, implying that robots and missiles replace people in battle ("html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">More precisely, further, scarier ", "HBO", 13.08.21). At the same time, two types of bombers remain in service with both the Air Force and naval aviation of the PLA – conditionally strategic H-6 and tactical (front-line) JH-7. Their total number in combat units ranges from 420 to 520 vehicles. What makes the Chinese bomber aviation formally the strongest in the world - in terms of the number of aircraft, although not in terms of their quality.
At the moment, only six old N-6A bombers capable of carrying B-5 nuclear bombs remain in service with the PLA Air Force as training ones (there are at least 120 such bombs), up to 106 N-6 early series are still in storage. There are from 159 to 187 new N-6 in service (48-61 N, 17-18 M, 90-104 K, four N; another ten N and two M in storage), and their production continues. The number of CJ-10 CRVS and nuclear warheads to them is unknown.
The "brigadization" currently underway in the PLA Air Force (the disbanding of air divisions and the transformation of their regiments into separate air brigades that retain regiment numbers) has affected the "strategists" to the least extent. Only the 106th regiment of the 36th Aviation Division of the Central Command became the 106th Aviation Brigade with H-6K/N aircraft. The 107th (N-6N) and 108th (N-6N/M) regiments remained in the 36th Air Division.
The Southern Command has the 8th Air Division consisting of the 22nd (N-6N/K) and 24th (N-6K) regiments. The Eastern Command consists of the 10th Air Division, which includes the 28th (N-6K), 29th (N-6N) and 30th (N-6M) regiments. The PLA naval aviation has 43-45 H-6 (27 G, 16-18 J; even before 17 H-6 several modifications may be in storage). The H-6G aircraft are equipped with the 17th Regiment of the 6th Aviation Division of the Eastern Fleet (VF) and the 23rd Regiment of the 8th Aviation Division of the Southern Fleet (SF). The H-6J are distributed between two separate aviation regiments - the 1st aviation of the SF and the 5th aviation of the VF.
It is possible to note the absence of H-6 in the Northern and Western Commands (the Chinese fleets are part of the commands of the same name). This means that Chinese long-range aviation is focused on striking naval and "overseas" targets - Japan, Taiwan, US bases in the Pacific region.
There are 97 to 153 front-line JH-7A bombers in the PLA Air Force, their production continues. In addition to conventional, including guided aviation weapons, they are capable of carrying B-4 nuclear bombs (there are at least 320 of them). These aircraft are in service with the 15th and 31st aviation brigades of the Northern Command, the 83rd and 84th aviation brigades of the Eastern Command, the 110th Aviation Brigade of the Western Command, the 126th Aviation Brigade of the Southern Command. Several more vehicles of this type are available in the 175th Aviation Brigade of the Training and Testing Center, which is under the dual subordination of the Central Command and the Air Force Headquarters.
In naval aviation there are 125-131 JH-7s (including 75-81 JH-7A). The old JH-7s are in service with the 16th and 18th regiments of the 6th Air Division of the Air Force. JH-7A bombers are equipped with the 27th regiment of the 9th Aviation Division of the Southern Fleet, as well as the 13th and 14th regiments of the 5th Aviation Division of the Northern Fleet (the 14th regiment may have been transformed into a separate 14th aviation brigade). Thus, unlike the H-6, the JH-7 are placed "in all azimuths", that is, they are focused on war with all of China's neighbors in Eurasia. Most of these bombers "got" the Eastern Command (against Taiwan) and the Northern Command (against us).
The prospects
Although the N-6 in the latest modifications is still in production, it is impossible to indefinitely improve the aircraft, originally created in the middle of the last century. It should be replaced in the near future by a "real" strategic bomber N-20. Almost nothing is known about this aircraft. It is assumed that in appearance and, accordingly, in concept, it will resemble the American B-2 and the promising B-21. The flight range can be from 8 to 12 thousand km. It is unclear what engines it will be equipped with (Chinese or Russian), what guided weapons it will carry. Perhaps all this will become clear in the next five years or so. At the same time, there is no doubt that the aircraft will be adopted and released in the amount of at least several dozen (if not hundreds) units.
The JH-7A will remain in service for a long time. Perhaps an even more advanced modification of the JH-7B will go into production (two prototypes of this machine have been released so far). There will most likely be no replacement for him: front-line bombers, like attack aircraft, will be completely replaced by strike drones. In addition, fighter-bombers have long been an addition to front-line bombers. In China, these are primarily Russian Su-30s and their local unlicensed copies of the J-16 (" Through the Thorns to the fifth generation ", "HBO", 02/25/12). In any case, the Chinese strike aircraft will remain the largest in the world in terms of quantity, while improving quality. This is a general trend for all types of armed forces and branches of the PLA.
Alexander Khramchikhin
Alexander Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.
