news

I wanted to quote Cao Cao's poem "The Old Horse in the Stable, Still Aspiring to Run a Thousand Miles" to describe the H-6 series bombers. However, since the H-6 entered service in the 1960s, it has been active in the combat sequence of the Air Force in a combat readiness state and has been continuously improved and upgraded. How can it be said to be "in the stable"?As Lu You said in Volume 1 of "Notes from Laoxuean": "Use a flying dragon in the sky to compare with an old horse in the stable", it would be more appropriate to change it to "The old horse flies in the sky, with its ambition to travel thousands of miles" to describe the H-6K that just flew over the Bering Sea.

Combined with the "official announcements" from China and Russia:China and Russia organized the eighth joint air strategic cruise on the 25th, with Russian Tu-95MS bombers andChinese Air Force H-6K bomberConduct joint patrols over the Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea and northern Pacific Ocean.

The China-Russia joint strategic air cruise has been carried out every year since 2019. The first seven strategic cruises were mainly carried out in Northeast Asia.Sea of ​​Japan, East China Sea, Western PacificOver the sea, the other five times wereSea of ​​Japan, East China SeaThe eighth joint strategic air cruise extended the cruise area to the northern Pacific Ocean for the first time. A related piece of information is that not long ago in July, Chinese and Russian naval fleetsWestern and Northern PacificThe fourth joint maritime patrol was carried out in relevant waters.

In summary, the scope of the joint cruise of the Chinese and Russian naval and air forces involves the waters and airspace of the northern Pacific Ocean, and the scope of the air force strategic cruise is further extended to the airspace over the Chukchi Sea, that is, directly to the airspace over the edge of the Arctic Ocean. The two protagonists of this air strategic cruise, the Russian Tu-95MS, may be frequent visitors to this area, but the other protagonist, the H-6K, is visiting this airspace for the first time, which is a landmark event of great significance for both this aircraft and the air force. So,Why was it the H-6K, and not other fighter jets, that took on the role of the first "visit" to the airspace of the North Pacific and even the Arctic Ocean?

Since it is a "strategic" cruise, it must be carried out by aircraft that are related to "strategy". Needless to say, the Russian Tu-95MS is a very typical strategic bomber. The H-6K is an improved bomber based on the original Soviet Tu-16 bomber imitation model H-6. The Tu-16 was once defined as a "medium-range strategic bomber". But today, bombers of the same level including the Tu-16, such as the British "Vulcan" and "Victor", have been retired from active service. Therefore, the H-6 series, including the improved H-6K, does not seem so "strategic" when put together with the active strategic bombers of the United States and Russia, but objectively it is indeed the most suitable aircraft for strategic cruise missions that we can bring out.

So, what exactly is “strategic cruise”?

Although there is no clear definition of "strategic cruise", we can still see some clues from Baidu:Mainly using long-range bombersLong range, large areaGenerally, they choose international airspace and fly for a relatively long time to show their presence.

There are two key words worth noting here:

① Long range: Although there is no clear definition of "long range", I think it can be explained similarly to the "long range" in "long-range bomber". The range of the "long-range bomber" currently in service is at least over 8,000 kilometers, which meansLong rangeThe bottom line value should also be 8,000 kilometers; ② Large area: Judging from several past strategic cruises, it should have crossed more than two sea areas and airspaces.

Long range and large area refer to the range and depth of "strategic cruise", which requires the use of long-range combat aircraft to perform this task. It also determines that only the H-6 series can perform this task in my country, and the H-6K, as an epoch-making improved model, is the right choice.AcceptanceThis task.

The H-6K is not a brand new bomber, but a new engine, avionics, weapons mounts and cockpit improvements based on the H-6, but the overall aerodynamic layout has not changed. In fact, the improvements made by the United States and Russia on strategic bombers, such as the B52 and Tu-160, are basically based on this idea. Recently, in order to improve the B52, the United States is preparing to replace the discontinued TF33 turbofan engine with the Rolls-Royce F130 turbofan engine. Even so, the B52 has not changed the engine layout and still maintains the original plan of hanging 8 engines on the wings.

my country's H-6 series has an even more urgent need for engine improvement, because the B52 used turbofan engines before, and until the first decade of the 21st century, the H-6 was still using turbojet engines as its power source, which was far behind the times in terms of thrust and fuel efficiency, and was unable to perform long-range combat missions.

The most important improvement of the H-6K is to replace the two turbojet 8 engines with twoD-30KP-2 turbofan engine. According to the parameter comparison of the two engines, it can be seen that although the latter is a turbofan engine developed in the 1960s, its performance is still better than that of the former.haveObvious advantages. To sum it up in one sentence:With similar weight, thrust is increased by 30%, fuel consumption is reduced by about 20%, and life span is increased by nearly 3 times.Replacing the engine has increased the range of the H-6K to about 8,000 kilometers, approaching the bottom line of the "long range".

In addition to the engine, the improvement of avionics and the upgrade of weapon mounts have made a qualitative leap in the combat capability of the H-6K.Show presence", literally means to show the fighter's presence in the mission airspace, and the deeper meaning behind it is to show its combat capability. The most significant sign of the improvement of the combat capability of the H-6K is that it has changed from the traditionalGuided bombConvert to launchAir-to-surface missiles, air-to-ship missiles, have the ability to strike beyond the defense zone and can carry out long-range strikes on key targets in "international airspace".

Finally, it is also necessary to improve and upgrade the cockpit layout of the H-6K, because the cockpit of the "old H-6" is indeed behind the times. Of course, this is also the most obvious change in appearance. The cockpit upgrade makes the H-6K more suitable for long-range combat missions, and the improvement of the ejection life-saving device significantly improves the survivability of the crew.

In short, the H-6K is a milestone in the improvement of the H-6 series, laying the foundation for subsequent models. The joint strategic cruise also provides a good training opportunity for the H-6K, especially this flight over the Bering Sea, which is more significant for the H-6K.