Chapter 948 How to make domestic bombers?
About two hours later, the plane finally arrived over Lintong Yaocun Airport in Haojing City, Qin Province.
Although Chang Haonan first proposed the idea of acquiring the Tu-9 after the September attack, the Air Force showed the utmost importance to the matter.
Less than a month later, the 36th Regiment of the 108th Air Division received an order to reorganize and restructure. It transferred its original equipment to the other two brother units, and entered a training state to prepare for the second strategic bomber of the Chinese Air Force.
In fact, the reason why the Air Force leaders chose this force was also based on historical considerations.
The predecessor of the 36th Air Division was the 4th Independent Air Force Regiment, the only unit in the Chinese Air Force that was ever equipped with strategic bombers (Figure ), and the only unit that ever had formal nuclear-related positions.
Although these nuclear-related positions have long been abolished, as of 2001, many of the older generation of officers and soldiers who had previously engaged in related work are still working hard at their posts.
After all, it is not completely disconnected.
Recovery doesn't have to be completely in the dark.
Of course, the "restoration" mentioned here only refers to the restoration of nuclear-related positions and nuclear-related establishments.
As for restoring air-based nuclear capabilities…
There is no timetable yet.
On the one hand, China has just joined the WTO, and the Americans' attention has finally been drawn to the Middle East. It is in the most critical stage of keeping a low profile, and it is not suitable for a large-scale nuclear expansion.
on the other hand.
It is also more important.
The few nuclear warheads that China has now are all developed according to the requirements of being delivered by ballistic missiles and are not suitable for airdrops.
There is not even an air-launched nuclear carrier...
So, there is indeed a long way to go.
As the plane slowly descended, Chang Haonan gradually saw the situation at the airport on the ground through the window.
The runway and taxiway had obviously just been renovated and reinforced, and there were even some military green-painted engineering vehicles parked not far away, which probably had not yet been evacuated.
Even the logo lines above have been redrawn, and the colors look much brighter than those of other airports.
On one side of the runway, two rows of four metal roofs have been built facing each other.
Even looking down from an airplane, one can see that its span is extremely huge.
At least sixty or seventy meters.
Judging from the quantity, it was obviously specially prepared for those Tu-160 aircraft.
On the other side is a regular apron.
Two rows of H-6 bombers are parked on it.
There are probably a dozen or so in total.
"Boss Qiao."
Chang Haonan pointed out the window and asked Qiao Chenqing next to him:
"Are these H-6s the current equipment of the 108th Regiment?"
The latter knew the situation here very well, and shook his head without even looking outside:
"Strictly speaking, it is the equipment previously used by the 108th Regiment."
Looking at Chang Haonan's curious eyes, he paused for a moment and then continued to explain:
"On paper, these aircraft have been transferred to the other two regiments of the 36th Division."
"However, in order to strengthen the confidentiality of Yaocun Airport, the 106th and 107th Regiments moved to Wugong last month. Because the 108th Regiment's modification task was too urgent, it has not had time to complete the handover process, so it is still stationed here."
As they were talking, the plane had already landed at the end of the runway and began to slow down.
This also made Chang Haonan notice the white radar domes under the noses of several of the aircraft, as well as the belly that looked very smooth due to the removal of a turret.
H-6H.
The latest model of the H-6 family.
After the plane entered a stable taxiing phase, Qiao Chenqing also noticed Chang Haonan's gaze:
"Some of these are H-6Hs, which were only delivered in small batches last year."
"But..."
He showed a slightly helpless smile:
"It's a bit out of date...so the current positioning is a bit awkward..."
Chang Haonan was a little overwhelmed when he heard this, but he finally suppressed his laughter.
After all, this incident was ultimately caused by him.
According to the original plan, this "new" bomber, which was launched in 1995, should have entered service in the early 21st century and served as the Chinese Air Force's main missile carrier for a considerable period of time thereafter, taking on most of the precision ground strike missions combined with the TV-guided KD63 missile.
From the perspective of the time, there was nothing wrong with this idea.
In the mid-90s, let alone the J-10 and J-11, which seemed to have nothing in common.
Even the JH-7 cannot guarantee the localization rate.
As a result, production was soon discontinued after the imported Spey MK202 spare parts were exhausted.
Therefore, the H-6 is the only air-to-ground weapon platform in my country that can be put into service with guaranteed quality and quantity.
In order to ensure sufficient range and power, the design prototype of KD63 chose the earlier Eagle Strike 6 anti-ship missile, so it can still reach a range of nearly 500 kilometers while carrying a 70-kilogram warhead.
The price was that the weight of the missile reached a staggering two tons.
Only the H-6 can carry it.
Both directions went to belong to yes.
Originally, this should have been a beautiful story of machine and missile working together and achieving mutual success.
however……
But times have changed.
When both the H-6H and KD-63 completed testing and finally entered small-scale trial production, the year 2000 had already arrived...
Although this speed is much faster than the original timeline.
Too bad it's not fast enough.
At almost the same time, the fully domestically produced and multi-purpose J-11B was to be equipped in small batches.
After major modifications, the J-10A, with its multi-purpose potential maximized, has also entered the final stage of testing.
As for the JH-7, which couldn’t be built in large numbers back then and was coveted by the navy and air force…
Now she has become Mrs. Niu.
The emergence of a large number of cutting-edge tactical aircraft also prompted the Missile Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation to pick up the previously abandoned medium-sized air-to-ground missile project, KD88.
The Eighth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology has also long launched a new supersonic air-to-air/air-to-ground universal missile project.
That is the Pili 13/KD13 that Chang Haonan had strongly promoted before.
Both models have entered the final stage of target testing.
Not to mention other models that are still in the development process.
All in all...
The survival space of the H-6H has almost been squeezed out.
However, in order to safeguard the business of the Gaofei Group and the research and development capabilities of China's domestic bombers, it continues to maintain a low-speed production state and use it as an emergency transitional model.
It can only be said that the future of a piece of equipment not only depends on the efforts of the researchers, but also takes into account the development of the historical environment.
Some equipment that were originally planned to be used only as transition equipment eventually transformed themselves into the main force.
Some equipment that were originally used as the main force ended up being reduced to transitional use...
……
It takes some time from the time the plane lands to the time it stops and you can get off the plane.
Plus, we just happened to be talking about the H-6.
Therefore, Qiao Chenqing asked casually
"Xiao Chang, do you think... this H-6 has the potential to be further improved?"
This seemingly simple question made Chang Haonan feel a little confused for a moment.
"I think... there should still be some."
About half a minute later, he spoke hesitantly:
"Although the performance of the Tu-16 platform is somewhat outdated, in some special cases, a platform that can carry large-sized weapons may still be needed."
"At present, my country's stealth technology is not mature. If we develop a new, non-stealth medium bomber from scratch, it will not be much different from continuing to improve the H-6... So, it is better to choose a plan with a higher cost-effectiveness ratio."
"Anyway...if we talk about air-based strategic deterrence, we do have it in theory..."
Chang Haonan said this while glancing at the skyline in the distance.
According to the plan, the four Tu-4s should have taken off long ago and would arrive here before the sun sets.
"That's true..."
Qiao Chenqing also gathered his thoughts at this time.
Reason told him that, at least during his tenure, the majority of China's bomber forces would still have to keep up with the H-6...
However, Chang Haonan next to him did not completely stop thinking.
The core improvement of the previous generation of the H-6K, in addition to the onboard equipment, was the replacement of the WP-8 with the D30KP2/WS-18, which greatly extended the range.
It is even possible to directly include Guam in the combat radius.
However, in this life, after the production of WS-10 is finalized next year, the WS-20 project will be launched in advance.
Even most of the Il-76s in China are already using the PS90A-76 MF model.
In this case, if we go back to imitate D30KP2...it seems a bit abstract.
However, the special structure of the H-6 engine located at the root of the wing cannot accommodate a high bypass ratio turbofan engine...
"It's a real hell."
Chang Haonan complained in his heart:
"D30KP2 is a product that is seriously outdated, but it has actually found a replacement that no one else can replace..."
