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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

China’s H-6 bombers in show of air-navy coordination near southern Japan, military experts say

  • 3 PLA planes pass near Okinawa while carrying powerful cruise missiles and radar-jamming devices
  • The mission follows muscle flexing by Chinese and Russian warships in waters around Japan

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It is rare for China’s navy and air force to deploy their H-6 bombers at the same time, according to military expert Fu Qianshao. Photo: Handout
Amber Wang
People’s Liberation Army bombers flew over the Miyako Strait in southern Japan last week while carrying powerful supersonic cruise missiles, showing the coordination between China’s air and naval forces, according to military experts.
Three H-6 bombers passed over the Miyako Strait from the East China Sea into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, then turned back taking a similar route, according to the Japanese Defence Ministry.
News of the flight comes after Chinese and Russian warships were reported to have sailed around Japan in what Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi described as a “show of force”.

Images from the ministry showed that two of the aircraft – H-6J bombers belonging to the PLA Navy – carried eight YJ-12 anti-ship cruise missiles, while an H-6K belonging to the PLA Air Force was equipped with electronic countermeasure pods for jamming enemy radar, Chinese military analyst Wang Shichun wrote on Shanghai-based news site Guancha.cn.
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The YJ-12 is considered Beijing’s most dangerous anti-ship missile because of its range and speed. The missile can be launched from land, air and sea, and has advantages over the ship-borne air-defence systems on American aircraft carriers, according to a December report in the Taiwanese military’s Navy Professional journal.

The missile has a range of over 400km (248.5 miles) and its warhead can reach a target within 30 seconds, making it almost impossible to intercept, according to the report.

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It is rare for both the navy and air force to fly H-6s at the same time, and this mission was aimed at enhancing coordination in combat, Chinese military expert Fu Qianshao said.

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