The PLA H-6 bomber was exposed to a large spacecraft mounted on its belly, which resembles the Wuzhen-8 but is significantly larger.
Some analyses conclude that this is most likely a new generation of hypersonic UAVs of the PLA, but others conclude that the aircraft is most likely associated with the PLA project of a sixth-generation fighter.
[H-6 bomber carries large aircraft]
Recently, a photo of the H-6 bomber posted by open-source intelligence analysts on overseas social media has caused heated discussions in the outside world. The reason is that the H-6 bomber in the photo has a large and dark terrake mounted on its belly.
Due to the unique shape of the aircraft, this photo was widely believed to be a photo of the H-6 bomber carrying the Wuzhen-8 UAV on a training mission when it was first exposed.
Because although the PLA has never exposed the photos of the Wuzhen-8 during the mission, the characteristics of the back hardpoint of this type of UAV, the rocket power configuration used and other characteristics show that its main take-off mode is air launch, rather than taxiing and taking off from the ground like traditional military aircraft.
[H-6 carrying Wuzhen-8 UAV imagination]
Therefore, in the active equipment of the PLA, there are only H-6 bombers that can meet the launch needs of the Wuzhen-8. So much so that even if there is no relevant video evidence to confirm this speculation, the fact that the H-6 can mount a Wuzhen-8 on the belly of the aircraft is already the consensus of military observers at home and abroad.
However, as more analysis came out, it suddenly became apparent that the information contained in the photo was far more powerful than they had imagined.
After all, judging from the official information disclosed, the Wuzhan-8 UAV is a large UAV with a length of 11.5 meters and a width of 6.7 meters, and the length of the fuselage is less than one-third of the H-6 bomber. The aircraft in the photo has gone further in size, not only has the length reached a level close to one-third of the length of the H-6, but the maximum width of the fuselage is also wider than that of the Wuzhen-8.
In addition, the tail of the aircraft can clearly see the inclined shape similar to a diamond shape on the vertical projection, while the tail projection of the Wuzhen-8 is flat, and the whole aircraft is like an isosceles triangle in the vertical projection.
[The tail of the Wuzhen-8 drone is straight]
These signs all show that the H-6 bomber is not carrying the Wuzhen-8 UAV, and the discussion of what this aircraft is has naturally become a focus of attention to relevant people at home and abroad.
I have two conclusions on this topic. The first conclusion is that the aircraft is a new generation of high-altitude and high-speed UAV intended to replace the Wuzhan-8, and the second conclusion is that the aircraft is likely to be a scaled-down verification model of the domestic sixth-generation aircraft.
First, let's explain the first conclusion. You must know that although the Wuzhen-8 UAV has a strong performance of 30,000 meters of flight altitude and Mach 3 flight speed, it can be immune to the interception of most anti-aircraft firepower in reconnaissance missions. But this performance is not without a price, that is, as a type of rocket-powered drone, the power output time of the aircraft is short, and most of the time can only rely on gliding flight.
[Domestic Wuzhen-8 high-altitude high-speed drone]
This allows the aircraft to have a mission radius of no more than 1,500 km when considering recovery, which is lower than the 2,000-2,500 km mission radius of the Wuzhan-7. As a result, the outside world generally believes that if the PLA wants to use the Wuzhan-8 to reconnoiter and search for US troops in the direction of Guam, it can only fight out and recycle it, and use the Wuzhan-8 as a one-time consumable.
Fortunately, thanks to the relatively simple and mature design, the cost of the Wuzhen-8 can indeed be kept down to the level of "shoot and forget" in wartime. However, the needs of the troops in peacetime are often very different from those in wartime, which also makes it difficult for the Wuzhan-8, which has poor continuous operation performance, to give full play to its performance advantages in peacetime.
To this end, the PLA has every reason to develop a new generation of high-altitude and high-speed UAVs with low-cost continuous operation performance, such as the MD-22 hypersonic UAV exposed at the Zhuhai Air Show, so that in peacetime it can also give our opponents a little "high-altitude and high-speed reconnaissance" shock.
[MD-22 hypersonic drone revealed at the Zhuhai Airshow]
After all, the Wuzhan-7 can also look down on the F-15J fighter from an altitude of 15,000 kilometers during the mission. However, we cannot deny that once the two sides engage in battle, even if the F-15J does not fly at the same altitude as the Wuzhan-7, the air-to-air missiles carried by the aircraft are enough to destroy the Wuzhan-7 on mission.
But if the new UAV can reach or even exceed the level of the Wuzhen-8 in flight performance, then let alone the air itself, even the US military in the Western Pacific can only look at the "machine" and sigh.
Because thanks to more advanced reconnaissance equipment, high-altitude and high-speed UAVs like the Wuzhan-8 no longer need to fly to the target for reconnaissance, and the target can be found at a distance of one or two hundred kilometers and transmitted through the data link. This distance has exceeded the interception distance of most anti-aircraft missiles, and if the new UAV can go further in terms of ceiling and flight speed, the US military can import from Russia to the MiG-31 and other interception professionals, and it will be difficult to prevent these heavenly "eyes" from staring at them.
As for the second conclusion, we all know that in recent years, AVIC has been particularly fond of disclosing the imagination of the sixth-generation aircraft on various promotional materials. Coincidentally, we can also see a diamond-shaped inclination shape similar to the one revealed in the tail position of the aircraft from these concept images.
[The silhouette of the sixth-generation aircraft that appeared on the AVIC publicity board]
It's hard not to associate the aircraft in the photos with these sixth-generation aircraft concept drawings, and considering that domestic sixth-generation aircraft are likely to attach great importance to high-altitude and hypersonic flight performance, and the existing hypersonic wind tunnels cannot fully reproduce the various environmental factors in reality. It is not impossible for the PLA to build a scaled-down verification model in the process of developing sixth-generation aircraft.
At the same time, this also means that the development progress of the PLA's sixth-generation aircraft is likely to be faster than the outside world thinks, and we are expected to see the official exposure of the aircraft in a few years.