The advent of the Norge B-21 stealth bomber is a highlight moment that the United States rarely shows its strong aviation heritage in recent years, as the country that developed the first stealth strategic bomber, the United States has completed the iteration of stealth bombing, and B-21 represents the world's most advanced aviation equipment level.
【B-21】
The outside world generally believes that like the B-2A used the Soviet Union as an imaginary enemy, the development of the B-21 is based on China as an imaginary enemy, and its concept is to be able to penetrate China's local air defense network to strike in depth, so does the B-21 really have such a penetration capability?
India's questioning
The B-21 is codenamed Raider, and from the very beginning of the aircraft's inception, some people have threatened that the B-21 can freely enter and exit China's airspace with its super stealth capabilities.
【B-21】
Such a statement is not very familiar, when the B-2A was deployed to the Asia-Pacific region, similar statements also appeared.
Surprisingly, Indian military experts, who have always been at odds with China, have refuted this claim, and Paz Satam, an Indian expert on geopolitical issues, said that the B-21 is simply not able to break through China's existing territorial air defense system.
The B-21 is an iteration of the B-2A, and the stealth design of the B-2A has reached the pinnacle, and after 30 years of technological development, the stealth capability of the B-21 will inevitably reach a higher level.
Many people think that the B-21 is based on the B-2A, which is not very rigorous, and the B-21 does follow some of the design concepts of the B-2A, but it is a new aircraft that has been completely redeveloped independently.
【B-2A】
The reason why the US military seeks a replacement for the B-2A is not because it doubts the combat capability of the B-2A, but because the cost of this expensive Cold War product is too high.
When the B-2A came out, it was the golden age of the United States, and the deep-pocketed US Air Force could not afford the ultra-high cost of the B-2A, and quickly shut down the production line after producing more than 20 aircraft.
After many years of service, the B-2A has had various problems with the aging of the aircraft and the continued dismantling and replacement of parts, and because the production line of the aircraft has long been closed, the US military even has to rely on technical archaeology to continue to maintain the operation of the fleet.
【B-2A】
The U.S. military's bomber fleet really needed a completely new model to replace the B-2A, and that's why the B-21 appeared.
It is not difficult to see that the advent of the B-21 is not the result of the US Air Force's pursuit of further improving its combat capability, but is used to pick up the B-2A squad.
The most important need of the U.S. military is not how powerful the combat performance of the B-21 is, but to reduce the cost of use and maintenance of stealth bombers.
In terms of overall performance, the B-21 is not a substantial leap from the B-2A.
【B-2A】
In other words, if China can stably detect other stealth aircraft of the US military, then it can theoretically detect the B-21, so there is no such thing as free access in China's airspace.
If the B-21 dares to invade China's airspace, it will definitely be shot down by the PLA's territorial air defense system, and whether it is an air interception or land-based air defense, the possibility of the B-21 surviving is quite slim.
The development of anti-stealth technology in China
With the current development of China's anti-stealth capabilities, typical stealth targets such as B-2A and B21 can already be detected and identified hundreds of kilometers away, and the application of modern stealth technology in aviation products is the path of radar stealth.
【B-21】
The so-called radar stealth is actually to reduce the echo signal received by the enemy's radar as much as possible, and reduce the signal amplitude of the RCS echo, the smaller the RCS, the better the stealth effect.
At present, all stealth aircraft are mainly aimed at centimeter-wave radars, including B-21, B-2A, F-22A, F-35, and other models that we are familiar with.
However, in the face of radars in other bands, stealth aircraft do not have any stealth capability like other aircraft, so China has developed a lot of millimeter-wave and meter-wave radars, which are specifically responsible for long-range detection of stealth targets.
【B-21】
For example, the domestic YLC-2E multi-band anti-stealth radar is currently the world's top products of the same kind, YLC-2E is the biggest feature of the use of three generations of semi-semiconductor materials and built-in algorithms for existing stealth aircraft models, which can identify air targets during the detection process.
As a complement to the YLC-2E radar, the PLA is also equipped with radars with anti-stealth capabilities, such as the YLC-8E and SLC-7, and under the composite detection of multiple radars, the stealth of the B-21 will become a joke.
In addition to using anti-stealth radar to make stealth targets like the B-21 hidden, the use of visible light technology and infrared detection technology can also effectively detect stealth aircraft.
【Anti-stealth radar】
Previously, a commercial satellite equipped with high-definition lenses and image processing equipment on the mainland captured a flying US F-22A over the East China Sea.
Once the mainland's anti-stealth radar and military satellites discover the traces of the B-21, our army can immediately dispatch the Air Police 500 and other early warning aircraft equipped with electronic phased array radar to guide the J-20 to intercept it in the air.
Once the J-20 approaches the B-21, the pilot can not only use the active phased array radar on the fighter to lock the opponent's position, but also use the synthetic aperture optoelectronic system throughout the body to sense the presence of the B-21.
[J-20 radio head]
As long as the J-20 locks it on, in the face of such a large air target that does not have the ability to maneuver with high G, the J-20 can directly launch a medium-range active radar projectile such as the PL-15 to shoot it down, and the B-21 has no chance of penetrating China's airspace at all.
If the B-21 really came to infiltrate, then the J-20 could be said to be waiting for the B-21 to be sent to the door to find death.
In fact, the Americans are well aware of this result, so the main attack method of the B-21 is still equipped with stand-off strike munitions such as LRASM.
China's homeland air defense system has been quite perfect after several decades of construction, and China is also one of the countries with the strongest air defense and anti-missile capabilities in the world, and the B-21, as a single weapon, is unlikely to change the current military disadvantage of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.
【B-21】
It is true that the B-21 poses a certain threat, but it would be an exaggeration to say that this bomber can pose a serious threat to China.
Sources:
[1] The United States announced the official code name of the LRS-B stealth bomber: B-21.observer.2016-02-27 [cited 2021-07-07]
[2] The United States announced a new generation of stealth bomber B21, the fuselage is curved, and it is difficult for radar to detect|bomber|Pentagon.phoenix.2016-02-28 [Cited 2021-07-08]