On January 26, the USS Roosevelt aircraft carrier group was attacked by eight H-6Ks during a simulated attack in international waters in the South China Sea. The U.S. military confirmed that the Chinese pilots received orders to attack the sea, simulating a targeting of the Roosevelt carrier and firing anti-ship missiles. To date, there has been a spate of operations in which dual or multiple H-6K formations have infiltrated Taiwan‘s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
As a purely offensive weapon in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, the Boom-6 has been unusually active in the recent tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, and seems to have become a forceful support for the Chinese Communist Party’s show of force and expansion in Taiwan and the South China Sea. It is difficult to say whether the Boom-6, which has made such a high-profile appearance, will be useful in actual combat. It is ridiculously clumsy for the Chinese Communist Party to use it to vent its anger in bullying Taiwan.
The use of the Boom-6 to show off its force is a legacy that the CCP inherited from its old predecessors. The former Soviet TU-16, the predecessor of the Boom-6, has a sad history of being killed in a plane crash as a result of a show of force.
On May 25, 1968, in the Norwegian Sea, the aircraft carrier USS Essex was on an anti-submarine warfare mission. Two Soviet TU-16 bombers, known as “Badgers” by NATO, were ordered to conduct a close reconnaissance mission against U.S. forces. One of the TU-16s flew a few dozen feet from the carrier, with the red star emblem of the Soviet aircraft clearly visible on its fuselage. The U.S. military noted that the Badger was flying at such a low altitude that its fuselage was almost as high as the carrier’s flight deck.
The TU-16’s approach to the Cold War was not new, but the 35-meter-long aircraft, flying at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 15 meters above the sea, still surprised the U.S. military. The low-flying Badger made a turn about two miles from the carrier, and as the pilot, Puliyev, tried to observe his position in relation to the carrier, his wing plunged into the seawater. The aircraft was instantly torn apart by the seawater and all the pilots were killed.
The U.S. and Soviet Union, which were operating in the vicinity of the crash site, quickly engaged in a search and rescue effort. The U.S. Army dispatched Edward B. Day to the area. The U.S. Army sent Captain Edward Day to transport the remains of the dead Soviet troops to the Soviet ships in a small boat. In order to avoid a similar incident, the U.S. and Soviet Union engaged in difficult negotiations, in which Captain Day represented the U.S. side. I. He recounted his experience on the day of the accident to Rear Adm. Day said their aim was to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. Vyshinsky emotionally told Day that the body he had returned was that of his son. On May 25, 1972, the U.S. and Soviet Union signed the Maritime Incident Agreement, which is still in effect today, and the sometimes bitter confrontation that occurred during the Cold War subsided.
Today the Chinese Communist Party is acting as if history is repeating itself, the difference is that the Chinese Communist Party is acting in a more irrational manner, it is unnecessarily raising the heat in the surrounding areas and exposing the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to the risk of war.
The TU-16, the predecessor of the H-6, was developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau, first flew in 1952 and was delivered in 1955. With a bomb load of only 9 tons, it was difficult to take on the heavy responsibility of a bomber. Early in its delivery it was retrofitted with early Soviet cruise missiles for use against U.S. surface ships. In fact, it was used as a ground and sea attack aircraft.
The H-6 was powered by the same copied Turbojet-8 engine, and its overall performance was basically comparable to that of the TU-16. The H-6 was continuously improved from the beginning of its service, and more than a dozen models were derived, but no matter how much it was improved, it could not change its inherent shortcomings of short range and small bomb load.
It was not until 2009 that the H-6K entered service. Thanks to the adoption of the Russian Solovyev D-30 turbofan engine and increased in-flight fuel, its combat radius was increased from 1,800 km to 3,000 km. The electronics were replaced, wing mount points were added, and it could carry six YJ-12 anti-ship missiles, which were claimed to be capable of hitting aircraft carriers.
Then came the H-6J and H-6N. There is speculation that the H-6N may carry ballistic missiles, including CJ-10 or DF-21 and other such medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of more than 1,500 kilometers.
The H-6 has been phased out 20 years ago because the Chinese Communist Party has given it the ability to attack the sea at medium and long ranges. The reason for the survival of the H-6 is that the CCP gave it medium and long-range sea-attack capabilities.
The YJ-12 is a supersonic anti-ship missile with a speed of Mach 3 to Mach 4 and a range of no more than 400 km. An H-6K with a YJ-12 would have to be launched within 400 km of a carrier group to pose a threat to the carrier.
A typical carrier formation includes the carrier itself, two guided missile cruisers, two guided missile destroyers, a frigate, two nuclear submarines, and a supply ship. Typically the carrier carries 80-90 fighters and electronic warfare aircraft; each type of ship is equipped with hundreds of air defense missiles of different ranges, constituting a long-, medium-, and near-range air defense area. The long-range air defense zone of the carrier battle group has SM-3 hypersonic missile air defense systems with a range of 900 to 1,200 kilometers and a combat radius of 800 kilometers for the carrier-based aircraft.
That is, the H-6K is 1000 to 800 kilometers from the carrier when it has entered the long-range strike range of the carrier battle group, and may be knocked out before it reaches the carrier, let alone get within 400 kilometers of the carrier. In fact, the H-6K has no chance of getting into position to launch an effective attack on the carrier.
Some people say, “If we send out dozens of H-6Ks to launch hundreds of YJ-12s at the same Time and saturate the carriers, as long as one missile hits the carrier, we will have achieved our goal”. In fact, the premise of this hypothesis is not valid, and if it did, it would be a good thing for the carriers, because the slow-moving H-6Ks are easier to intercept than supersonic missiles, and shooting down one H-6K is the same as shooting down six YJ-12s at once, which is obviously a good deal.
The above reasoning we have envisioned does not take into account the use of electronic warfare by the U.S. military, which may not need to use wide-scale kinetic kill to win in the event of seizing electromagnetic superiority. That is why, on Jan. 23, when Chinese military aircraft simulated an attack on the USS Roosevelt carrier formation, Indo-Pacific Command spokesman Mike Kafka said that the U.S. military would not need to use a kinetic kill method. Mike Kafka, a spokesman for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said the Roosevelt carrier strike group closely monitored all activities of the Chinese naval and air forces and that they never posed a threat to U.S. Navy warships, aircraft or sailors.
As for the claim that the H-6N is loaded with medium-range ballistic missiles, it is even more ridiculous. The Boom-6 dabbles in the ballistic missile launch phase, but only to improve maneuverability or increase range. But it reduces survivability, and its concealment is not as good as that of a ground-mobile missile launcher. I am afraid that the purpose of increasing missile range by the Boom-6 is not related to the Taiwan Strait and the Southern Customs, but should be directed at the second island chain or the U.S. forces deep in the Indo-Pacific ocean. Either way, the Boom-6’s involvement would add a weak link to the CCP’s offensive approach and would be a sad laughing stock in actual combat.
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