As it strengthens China’s nuclear triad and significantly widens its nuclear assault range to encompass a significant chunk of the continental U.S., the H-20 stealth bomber, which is being dubbed a “B-2 copycat”, is projected to present an altogether new realm of threat dynamics to the U.S.
According to the UK’s Sun, the new H-20 bomber, which is anticipated to arrive in a few months, has a range of up to 7,500 miles, making it possible for one sortie from mainland China to reach targets over the United States without the need for refueling.
This is a significant breakthrough because uninterrupted stealth bomber attack missions with that type of reach increase the risk of an undetected nuclear assault on important U.S. targets. Refuelers can, of course, help disclose the position or existence of a stealth bomber.
According to an article in the Asia Times: “the South China Morning Post, which cited a London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies report, the state-of-the-art H-20 can carry a massive weapons payload of 45 tonnes and fly great distances without mid-air refueling.”
Although the precise makeup of its stealth capabilities or radar-signature-reducing technologies may not be fully understood, the images and renderings that are now available show an aircraft that, in some ways, resembles a U.S. B-2.
Given China’s well-known and well-documented propensity to steal or replicate American weapon systems, nothing about this is particularly surprising. This is especially true in the case of the H-20. The similar rounded upper fuselage, wing bodies that meld together, curved upper air inlets, and almost no vertical structures distinguish it.
To show China’s overt “copycat” action, there seems to be quite a bit of proof that is visible. During Operation Enduring Freedom in the early days of the Afghan conflict, American B-2 aircraft made 44-hour missions from Whiteman AFB, Miss., to Diego Garcia, a small island off the coast of India. The B-2 is also noted for its long-endurance flights.
In support of American ground forces, B-2s launched bombing sorties over Afghanistan from that location. Although refueling was probably necessary for this operation, it does highlight the benefits and tactical advantages of the long-endurance bombing. Annual “China Military Power Report” from the Pentagon for 2018 and 2019.
The 2019 report pinpoints that the new H-20 will likely have a range of “at least 8,500km” and “employ both conventional and nuclear weaponry.”
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force Commander General Ma Xiaotian announced the development of the H-20 in public remarks in 2016 and stated that the weapon could appear at some point in the next decades. The following decade has arrived, and early representations seem to confirm part of what Xiaotian said regarding Chinese aspirations for the bomber.
He said that the H-20 will “employ 5th generation technologies,” according to the Pentagon’s China report. Although there are still many unanswered questions, the Chinese have already developed several possibly fifth-generation aircraft with the J-20 and J-31, so the ability to engineer and deliver fifth-generation technology into the bomber may remain to be seen to some extent.
The exterior does, at the very least, seem stealthy; it appears to have an embedded engine, a blended wing body, no vertical structures, and engine air ducts woven into the frame on top of the fuselage. In the Pentagon report, it is noted that “a possible H-20 prototype depicted a flying wing airframe akin to the B-2 bomber and X-47B stealth unmanned combat aerial vehicle.”
A B-2 bomber’s reported range of more than 6,700 miles looks to be a little shorter than the reported range of 8,500 kilometers. Pentagon reports have raised worries that the Chinese “may also be developing a refuelable bomber that could “reach initial operating capability before the long-range bomber.”
Given the extensive enhancements and modifications the Air Force made to the platform in the 1980s, it is also unclear if the H-20 would be able to compete with a U.S. B-2. A thousand times faster computer processor, air defense evasion Defensive Management Systems sensors, and upgraded weaponry, including the capability to drop the B-61 Mod12 nuclear bomb, will shortly be installed on the B-2.
The B-2 will look very different in a few years compared to its 1980s origins as the Pentagon seeks to ensure the platform remains relevant and effective for many years into the future. The B-2 is scheduled to fly alongside the new B-21 until sufficient numbers of B-21s arrive.
There might simply be too many unknowns for it to be competitive with a B-2 or B-21. A few things do, however, come to mind. For example, the B-21 airframe seems to have few, if any, external exhaust pipes, which begs the issue of whether it uses innovative thermal management or heat dispersion technology.
To make stealth bomber airframes less visible to thermal sensors, it is important to aim toward making them match or align with the ambient air temperature. Additionally, senior Air Force officers have stated that the B-21 platform features a new generation of stealth technologies and can “hold any target in the world at any time” even though many facts about the B-21 remain “black” for understandable reasons.
This suggests that there may be a great degree of confidence in the new B-21’s ability to defeat the most sophisticated air defense systems in use today and projected in the future. Given the new generation of technology used in advanced Russian air defenses like the S-400 and S-500, it would be quite an achievement to be able to avoid both surveillance and engagement radar in the current technological period.
They claim to be able to detect “stealth” to a significant extent in addition to using digital networking to connect radar nodes, relying on faster computer processing, and tracking aircraft on a wider range of frequencies. Even though it is a claim made by the Russian media, this may still be unverified, but it has motivated American weapon developers to look for newer paradigms for stealth technology.
Additionally, top Air Force weapons developers have said that stealth is just “one arrow in a quiver” of ways to dodge and destroy enemy air defenses, at least when it comes to stealth planes. This is likely due to the sophistication of these sophisticated air defenses.
Despite this, there is little evidence to suggest that a new B-21 would face any difficulties when facing the most sophisticated air defenses; discussions in this vein are likely to continue for years, at least until much more information about the B-21 is known. Officials from the Air Force claim that the B-21 will be nearly “undetectable,” which may very well be the case.