Xian H-8 Chinese Stealth bomber

The H-8 is a secret strategic stealth bomber by China  reportedly to have started trial flights from November, 2007.  The during the test flight Chinese leaders were present comprising of Central Military Committee officers, air force logistics department officers, national defense science and industry committee, Xi’an deputy mayor and the provincial party committee assistant deputy secretary for inauguration of  the project.

For obvious reasons the actual bomber looks slightly different because the pictures may have been camouflaged to hide the details of true design of the Chinese plane. This is standard operating procedure for new secret weapons and strategic bomber planes. A similar tactic was adopted by the American DoD before the Stealth B-2 bomber was introduced to the public.

The H-8 bomber was a Chinese military aircraft that was a possible successor to the Xian H-6 twin-engine jet bomber. The prototype aircraft was reported to be an enlarged version of the H-6 with under-wing engines, but that the project was canceled in the early 1970s before the bomber went into production. The  Chinese military has a stealth bomber called Xian H-8 that has 4 Ws-10A engines derived from Russian and US technology. The engines are made from carbon fiber and coated with special nanotechnology. The Xian H-8 has a max speed of Mach 1.2 and carries stealth missiles in its cargo bay and can also can carry nuclear missiles. China is currently developing stealth fighters like J-XX and J-13 (which is based on the J-10).

As reported , in 1994 there was an official set up development to match the American B-2A as far as possible. The weapons load is targeted around 18 tons and when necessary, the bomber will travel at 1.2 Mach to penetrate defended territory or in case it needs to escape. The bomber will carry a new stealth cruise missile with the range to reach targets upto United States. Range is estimated to notch up to ten thousand kilometers although it is unclear whether this is with refueling or without refueling. However, the bomber is said to be able to refuel. The aircraft uses domestically produced advanced navigation equipment. The bomber has been designed by the 603 institute, and Xian will be responsible for producing the bomber. The bomber will be the first domestically designed and manufactured strategic bomber.