In a major boost to its hypersonic might to challenge U.S. maritime dominance, China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has claimed to equip its Soviet-era nuclear-capable Xi’an H-6K bombers with four modern YJ-21 hypersonic missiles for the first time.
The missiles were reportedly observed armed on an H-6K bomber associated with a regiment attached to the PLA Southern Theater Command’s air force.
According to the WeChat account of the PLA Southern Theater Command, this bomber allegedly participated in a late-night drill in mid-2024.
The H-6K earlier demonstrated its ability to carry subsonic and supersonic cruise missiles, marking the first time the bomber deployed a hypersonic air-launched missile.
Technical specifications of YJ-21
The YJ-21 missile has a remarkable flight speed of Mach 6, culminating in a terminal velocity of Mach 10. Its impressive operational range spans approximately 930 miles (1,500 kilometers), demonstrating its formidable reach and capabilities.
The missile shares some resemblances to the Russian Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile by appearance.
Citing experts, the Chinese state-owned Global Times said that the YJ-21 is likely a type of air-launched missile that can hit stationary targets as well as slowly moving targets, including aircraft carriers, at hypersonic speeds from extended distances.
“Since the missile seems larger and heavier than other types of munitions carried by the H-6K, the bomber could only carry two rather than four, but the new official photo negated that presumption,” a Chinese military expert told Global Times.
The expert said the photograph revealed that the H-6K bomber has sufficient payload capacity and its wings have sufficient structural strength to carry four YJ-21 missiles.
H-6 upgradation roadmap
The Xian H-6 (Hōng-6) is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 twin-engine jet bomber, which was built for China’s PLAAF.
Delivery of the Tu-16 to China began in 1958, and the Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC) signed a license production agreement with the USSR to build the type in the late 1950s.
The first Chinese Tu-16, or “H-6” as it was designated in Chinese service, flew in 1959. Production was performed by the plant at Xian, with at least 150 built into the 1990s.
China is estimated to operate around 120 aircraft currently.
Along with the H-6 free-fall bomber, an “H-6A” nuclear bomber was built, as well as an “H-6B” reconnaissance variant, “H-6C” conventional bomber, and “H-6E” nuclear bomber with improved countermeasures, the “H-6D” anti-ship missile carrier, and the “HY-6” series capable of acting as an in-flight fuel tanker.
The H-6D was introduced in the early 1980s and carried a C-601 anti-shipping missile (NATO codename “Silkworm”) under each wing. This missile was an air-launched derivative of the Soviet P-15 Termit (“Styx”).
The H-6D featured various modernized systems and sports an enlarged radome with a Type 245 Kobalt I-band surveillance radar under the nose. The Type 245 radar was based on the Soviet PSBN-M-8 NATO codename Mushroom radar used on the Tupolev Tu-16.
Many H-6A and H-6C aircraft were updated in the 1990s to the “H-6F” configuration, the main improvement being a modern navigation system with a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation receiver, Doppler navigation radar, and inertial navigation system.
New production began in the 1990s as well, with Xian building the “H-6G,” a director for ground-launched cruise missiles, and the “H-6H,” which carries two land-attack cruise missiles.
PLAAF considered five immediate possibilities for land-attack cruise missiles: the Indigenous HN-1, HN-2 and HN-3, DH-10/CJ-10, and a variant of Russian-designed cruise missiles. It is believed that the CJ-10 was chosen to be the main land-attack missile for H-6 bombers.
The H-6 equipped with the hypersonic missile made the bomber an advanced aircraft and was dubbed H-6K.
The YJ-21 missile on the H-6K can significantly increase the PLAAF’s long-range precision strike capabilities in anti-access/area denial missions, poised to counter and challenge the United States in the maritime domain.
Recently, the Chinese navy paired the YJ-21 missile with the formidable Type 055 large destroyer, renowned as one of the world’s most heavily armed warships.
