Kris Osborn
The emerging, yet mysterious Chinese H-20 stealth bomber is very much on the Pentagon radar, as it is expected to arrive within a few years as a rival to the US B-21 and bring unprecedented ranges and nuclear-capable, high-altitude broadband stealth to the global threat equation.
Very little is known about the H-20, and there have been few publicly available renderings, and while the platform appears quite stealthy to the observer’s eye, top Pentagon weapons experts are concerned about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force production capacity and anticipated fleet size, as it pertains to the H-20. The Pentagon’s annual military report on China has consistently cited an H-20 threat, stating as far back as 2018 that the H-20’s 8,500km range armed with 2,000 km range CJ-20 ALCMs can “expand long-range offensive bomber capability beyond the second island chain,” placing areas such as Guam, Hawaii and the US at risk.
Beyond the mere question of range and global reach, the H-20 could present a very serious “nuclear-mass” threat, according to top Pentagon researchers studying Chinese weapons and production capacity. In little more than a decade, China could potentially deploy a fleet of at least 50 H-20 bombers capable of attacking with hundreds of nuclear warheads.
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