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the b-21 strategic bomber, which is being developed and put into mass production by the us military industry, is known as the first sixth-generation aircraft and is responsible for the important task of future military deterrence against china. on the chinese internet, there has been controversy over whether the b-21 poses a strategic threat to china, or how big a threat it poses. the most critical reason is that the b-21 is considered a medium-sized strategic bomber. at present, the domestic judgment on the size of the b-21 mainly comes from photos released by northrop corporation. due to the lack of necessary reference objects, it is difficult to give accurate data.

earlier, the u.s. air force magazine took the lead in publishing the size comparison between the b-21 and the b-2: the wingspan of the b-2 is more than 52 meters, while the wingspan of the b-21 is less than 45 meters; the length of the b-2 is 21 meters, while the fuselage length of the b-21 is less than 20 meters. comparing it with russia's tu-160 "white swan" strategic bomber, which has a wingspan of 57 meters, a length of 55 meters, and a maximum take-off weight of 275 tons, it can be seen that the size of the b-21 is less than half of the tu-160, and it is just a medium-sized strategic bomber.

another american professional aviation journal, aviation weekly, revealed even more outrageous data: the b-21's dimensions are 15.8 meters long and 40.2 meters wide. if this is true, then no matter what advanced technology the b-21 uses, its maximum combat radius is very limited due to its insufficient size, and the threat it poses to china is greatly reduced.

in the eyes of the americans, the b-21 was unveiled before the chinese h-20, so it would be best to make it difficult for china to get accurate data. however, the truth will always come out. the "jilin 1" satellite of china's changguang satellite technology company recently took several high-definition photos and finally took pictures of the b-21 test. by comparing it with the r-11 tanker, the truth about the size of the b-21 was found.

what can be confirmed now is that the b-21 is a whole circle larger than the data released by aviation week, with a wingspan of 6.6 meters and a length of 2.7 meters, which means that its wingspan can reach 46.8 meters and its length is 18.5 meters. this data also exceeds the forecast data of the us air force magazine.

according to the latest dimensions, the maximum take-off weight of the b-21 may reach 120 tons, instead of the 100 tons previously speculated by the outside world. its maximum range may be as high as 10,000 kilometers, and its combat radius is 4,000 kilometers. in other words, the b-21 can pose a serious threat to china's coastal areas by taking off from the guam base without aerial refueling.

the b-21 is designed as a "penetrating air control" bomber, which is to break through china's air defense system and enter the hinterland to carry out bombing missions. compared with the b-2, which has only 20 aircraft, the b-21 will deploy about 100 aircraft. if we consider that the b-21 has a much stronger situational awareness and complex data processing capabilities than the b-2, and its battlefield survivability is stronger, we really can't underestimate such a platform.

as for whether the united states is "deceiving" china by keeping the size of the b-21 secret? it should not be deceiving china. because china already has medium-range strategic bombers such as the h-6k, the stealth strategic bomber we develop must be heavy, that is, it will not be smaller than the b-2. the chinese air force has no overseas military bases, and the stealth strategic bomber has to undertake the nuclear strategic deterrence mission, requiring the missile weapons mounted to achieve the ability to strike targets 12,000 kilometers away. this requires that china's stealth strategic bomber is not only large in size, but also able to carry missile weapons with a longer range.

from this perspective, even if the size of the b-21 exceeds outside expectations, it is still much smaller than china's upcoming strategic bomber. it remains to be seen who will gain the upper hand in the competition between china and the united states in this field.