China military: PLA sends H-6K bomber on long-range joint drill over South China Sea
China’s H-6K bomber coordinated with fighter jets and early warning aircraft in simulated attacks over the South China Sea, according to a state media report.
The report, published by the Chinese military’s mouthpiece the PLA Daily on Tuesday, said the bomber flew more than 5,000km (3,100 miles) in a drill that lasted more than seven hours.
Chen Jiale, captain and squadron leader of an unnamed air force regiment in the Southern Theatre Command, was quoted as saying it was the longest drill he ever taken part in.
Chen added that he had seen under the wings of H-6K the “beautiful Spratly Islands”, a hotly contested archipelago known in China as the Nansha Islands.
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The H-6K is considered a strategic bomber and was designed for long-range and stand-off attacks. It can carry nuclear weapons and is held up as capable of attacking US carrier battle groups in the Pacific.
In the same drill, the bomber was tested in coordination with early warning and fighter jets for long-range raids, rapid manoeuvres and systematic strikes, the report said.
Timothy Heath, a senior international defence researcher at the US think tank Rand Corporation, said the report revealed how China was using the artificial islands it built in the South China Sea to perform combat duties.
“This mission shows how Chinese aviation units could carry out missile strikes on targets within the first island chain,” said Heath, referring to the network of archipelagos stretching from Japan to the Malay Peninsula.
“Probably, the fighter aircraft [was] deployed from the bases on the artificial islands in the Spratly Islands to support simulated strikes in the South China Sea.
“Finding ways to provide air cover to long-range strikes in the East China Sea would be more difficult, since there are no fighter bases there outside the Chinese mainland.
“In short, the airbases in the Spratly [Islands] allow China to use bombers in that area far more effectively.”
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Heath said the other aircraft helped the bomber carry out its mission.
“The early warning aircraft can help monitor potential threats in the air, most notably enemy fighter aircraft that may try to shoot down the bomber. The early warning aircraft can also help coordinate activities among the different planes. And the fighter planes can escort the bomber to fend off any attacking fighter aircraft,” he said.
Beijing has built docks, radars, airports, military camps and large aircraft hangars at Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross reefs in the Spratlys, where it also sent medium-sized medium-range Y-8 transport aircraft, the KJ-500 third-generation airborne early warning and control aircraft and Type 22 catamaran missile vessels.
In addition to showing its coordination between different aircraft, the more than 5,000km distance flown is a significant indicator of the Chinese air force’s capabilities, according to Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor.
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“The distance of 5,000km can reach Guam and, if equipped with long-range weapons, [the bomber’s fire] can cover Hawaii. This would be the longest distance attempted by the bomber, especially in the open sea … It shows that the Chinese air force has the ability to go far into the sea and into the air,” Song said.
Although the drill showed the enhanced ability of the Chinese air force, the bomber’s capability boosted the threat already posed to US military forces by only a little, Heath said.
“The main threat remains the large PLA inventory of ballistic missiles that could easily target US airbases all the way out to Guam and Australia,” Heath said.
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Guam is home to two naval bases strategic to the US – the Naval Base Guam in Santa Rita-Sumai and Andersen Air Force Base in Yigo – which serve as a key foothold for the US to conduct operations in the Indo-Pacific.
The US Marines Corps also opened a new base in Guam in January – its first in 70 years – that aims to eventually house some 5,000 marines tasked with detecting and countering threats in the region, who would be key in the event of a conflict with China.
