Japanese aircraft intercepts Chinese H-6 bomber
A Japanese military aircraft has intercepted a Chinese H-6K strategic bomber flying through international airspace between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako in the East China Sea, according to Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The MoD said that Japanese airspace was not violated.
Chinese H-6K strategic bomber is designed for long-range attacks and stand-off attacks. The aircraft has nuclear strike capability.
The H-6K offers enhanced missile capacity, as it can carry up to six YJ-12 and 6-7 Air Launched Cruise Missiles.
Analysts assume that a single regiment of 18 H-6Ks fully loaded out with YJ-12s can saturate enemy ships with over 100 supersonic missiles.
The CJ-10K land-attack cruise missile has a range of over 930 nautical miles and carries a 1,100-pound warhead. Its guidance package is thought to include combination of inertial navigation system, satellite navigation, terrain contour matching and digital scene-mapping area correlation.
Unlike previous iterations of the Badger, the H-6K was designed primarily as a cruise missile carrier. That makes it effective to not only against navies, but also land bases.
For short-range anti-ship attacks, the H-6K reportedly is equipped with YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile.
