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a month ago, strategic bombers from the chinese and russian militaries conducted a joint cruise and entered the us air defense identification zone in the direction of alaska. at that time, it only caused a sensation around the world. it was not until now that various information was disclosed that we learned how unhappy the united states was across the ocean. not long ago, the russian "military review" website published an article commenting on and reflecting on this joint action of the chinese and russian air forces.

on july 24, after the u.s. military's long-range search radar found the target and identified it as a strategic bomber, fighter jets from the u.s. and canadian air forces immediately took off to prepare for interception. however, they found that there were too many targets in the air, including two russian tu-95s, two chinese h-6ks, two russian aerospace forces su-35ss and two su-30sms. the appearance of the h-6k here surprised the americans, and they immediately began to calculate how the h-6 got here. as a result, they found that they couldn't figure it out. it might have landed at a russian airport for refueling, or it might have used aerial refueling. anyway, there was no problem with the range.

some people in the united states are shouting, "it's just some old planes flying over here!" yes, the h-6k is based on the former soviet union's tu-16 upgrade. the model is old, but the missiles on it are very advanced. the same is true for the tu-95. isn't the us b-52 going to be a century in 28 years? being able to carry advanced strike ammunition close to the us border, what's the difference between a new or old plane? even if the russian military's "caliber" cruise missiles are hung on transport planes, it will still give americans a headache.

since 2010, when russian strategic bombers resumed their cruises along the air borders of the united states, europe and east asian countries, americans have been very unhappy. they don't like these flights, but russian aircraft never violate the airspace of sovereign countries, so they have to swallow their anger. however, the incident in july this year attracted attention because it was the first time that china's nuclear-capable missile bomber, the h-6k, approached the us mainland. it is much easier to launch targets on us and canadian territory from here than from the waters of the pacific ocean. the reason is simple: you are not the only one who can shoot at others, others can also shoot at you.

since 2019, the chinese air force's h-6 has begun to cruise in the waters of the pacific ocean with the bombers of the russian aerospace forces. this was immediately called the "tokyo express", which often stimulated japanese fighters to take off urgently. in 2019, the h-6k and tu-95 conducted their first joint cruise, which caused an uproar. they flew over the disputed dokdo (takeshima) in the sea of ​​japan and seemed to enter south korea's air defense identification zone. south korean fighters took off. after contacting south korean fighters, the chinese and russian bombers turned to the diaoyu islands and brushed past the ears of the japanese. japan also took off fighters, and eventually a group of "hounds" chased the tu-95 and h-6. this time, in addition to 2 tu-95s and 2 h-6ks, there were also two early warning aircraft, the russian a-50 and china's "kongjing-2000", plus 4 su-30s from the chinese air force, and 4 f-15s and f-16s from south korea and japan. in short, the situation in the air that day was quite lively. fortunately, everything was peaceful in the end.

the united states believes that the joint cruise between china and russia is a show of strength, and it is more of a political action than a military exercise. china has the largest number of heavy bombers in the world. today, only russia, the united states and china are still using them. the question is, what does china need so many bombers for? although china's h-6 has many defects, it can fly far enough and carry enough missiles to be launched from outside the target's air defense zone. the most famous of them are the supersonic anti-ship missile "eagle strike-12", two air-launched ballistic missiles x-13 and "eagle strike-21", and air-to-ground cruise missiles "air-to-ground-20" and "changjian-20".

the flight that caused the alaskan air defense to shake showed that the cruise of strategic bombers in peacetime helps to calm down the opponent. what about wartime? what is the role of the chinese air force's h-6? it has a lot of uses! for example, the h-6 fleet can strike all military targets in taiwan without using nuclear weapons, and there is no problem in providing fire support to the pla fleet at sea. the huge anti-ship missile arsenal of mainland china will force us aircraft carriers to operate only hundreds of kilometers east of taiwan, outside the strike range of most missiles. this is suitable for aircraft activities, and 100-200 kilometers is not far for them. us ships may be within the strike range of the h-6 "eagle strike-12" or "eagle strike-100", which is the "long arm" of china's maritime strike capability.

in addition, there are land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles "dongfeng-21d" and "dongfeng-26b", which have a longer range. the coordinated assault of several bomber aviation regiments of the chinese air force can theoretically launch 80-180 heavy anti-ship missiles, which can break through the powerful air defense of any us ship formation. this will force the us aircraft carrier battle group to evade further east, and as a result, the operations of the carrier-based aviation wing on the aircraft carrier will be affected.

the current maximum combat radius of the h-6 is 4,000 kilometers, plus the maximum range of the "kongdi-20" and "changjian-20" cruise missiles is 2,000 kilometers, a total of 6,000 kilometers. the h-6 can also achieve longer-range assaults through aerial refueling.

why is the united states eager to develop long-range air-to-air missiles aim-174b and aim-260? mainly to deal with the chinese air force's h-6 and early warning aircraft. the range of these two missiles is 320 and 260 kilometers respectively. however, the pla air force has long-range fighters j-20 and j-16, which can provide escort for the h-6.

of course, the limitations of the h-6 explain why china is stepping up the development of the h-20 stealth bomber, as the h-20 is much less risky when trying to penetrate the enemy's air defense zone. at present, the h-6 has undergone a series of information transformations and is actually very advanced. its improvements include a new digital pilot cockpit, better electronic countermeasures systems, new optoelectronic and infrared sensors, and data links that can work well with friendly forces. the number of missile hardpoints has increased from four to six, at least four of which are heavy, which can ensure the suspension of heavy cruise or air-launched ballistic missiles. the united states confirmed that the h-6k can carry two new hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles, called the "eagle strike-21", which were displayed at the 2022 zhuhai air show. it should be said that this is a very advanced missile.

facts have proved that the chinese air force has the opportunity to "smash" the door of the united states, especially in coordination with the russian aerospace forces. it can work alone, but it is more powerful when united. today, china and russia are still ordinary partners. what will happen tomorrow is determined by the us state department and congress, whose policies will obviously push china and russia to hold each other tightly.