New Chinese long-range bomber on military’s horizon, air force chief says
General reveals military working on next generation of long-range aircraft but analyst says debut could still be roughly a decade away
China is developing a new generation long-range strategic bomber but the aircraft could be up to eight years away from a maiden flight, according to a military observer.
On the sidelines of an induction day for 1,200 air force recruits at the People’s Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University in Changchun, Jilin province, on Thursday, air force chief General Ma Xiaotian said the military was working on a more advanced bomber but gave no details about the programme. “China will have a more advanced long-range strategic bomber,” Phoenix Television and Shenzhen Satellite Television quoted Ma as saying. “You will see it in the future.”
It takes huge sums of money to successfully design and manufacture a high-performance bomber
Military observers said the new generation would be more advanced than the air force’s H-6K bomber and Y-20 transport aircraft, with improvements in load capacity and range.
Military observer Zhou Chenming, who worked for a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the main state-owned contractor for the country’s space programme, said the aircraft was seven or eight years away from its debut.
“It takes huge sums of money to successfully design and manufacture a high-performance bomber,” Zhou said.
He said a big budget and a stable research team were key to realising the plans. The United States’ new generation B-21 stealth bomber reportedly cost about US$564 million each.