What Is the H-6? China Releases New Photos of Nuclear Bomber

China's military shared new images of the strategic H-6 bomber conducting an exercise in the country's Eastern Theater Command.

"The commander issued the flight order, and multiple types of fighter jets rushed to the target airspace one after another to conduct ground bombing missions," the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said on the X-like social media platform Weibo on March 1. "Recently, a certain aviation division of the Eastern Theater Command Air Force organized flight training at multiple airports, multiple aircraft types, and multiple subjects."

In Asia's geopolitical theatre, the modern iterations of the H-6 family—comprising the H-6K, H-6J, and the recently spotlighted H-6N—have been at the forefront of China's strategic posture. H-6K and H-6N are known to carry multiple types of bombs, while the H-6J acts as a surveillance plane, Rick Joe, an expert on the Chinese military, wrote in The Diplomat, a specialist publication on Asian politics. The H-6K bomber is known to have the capability to carry a nuclear warhead.

In Focus

China's H-6 Bomber Seen In New Photos

China's H-6K bomber was seen conducting exercise in the Eastern Theatre Command, according to images posted by the People's Liberation Army on March 1, 2024. The H-6K belongs to a family of bombers, produced by Chinese aircraft maker Xi’an Aircraft Company, which have been deployed against Taiwan, South China Sea and border areas of India.

Launch Slideshow 3 PHOTOS

The bombers have been actively involved in operations encircling Taiwan, approaching the airspace near Japan, and patrolling the contentious waters of the South China Sea. Such activities are perceived as Beijing's overt demonstrations of its political determination. The H-6 series has also graced Chinese military parades over the past decade, underscoring their symbolic importance, alongside their operational roles.

In 2021, the H-6K bomber was seen in Xinjiang, close to the border area with India, in a Chinese state media outlet China Central Television broadcast.

"It's very easy for the PLA to fly H-6Ks to the China-India border, because the aircraft are stationed ... under the Western Theatre Command," a military source told the South China Morning Post.

"In recent years, the PRC has fielded greater numbers of the H-6K, a modernized H-6 variant that integrates standoff weapons and features more-efficient turbofan engines for extended-range. The H-6K can carry six land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), giving the PLA a long-range standoff precision strike capability that can range targets in the Second Island Chain from home airfields in mainland China," The U.S. Department of Defense's annual report on China for 2021 said.

In Focus

China's H-6 Bomber Seen In New Photos

China's H-6K bomber was seen conducting exercise in the Eastern Theatre Command, according to images posted by the People's Liberation Army on March 1, 2024. The H-6K belongs to a family of bombers, produced by Chinese aircraft maker Xi’an Aircraft Company, which have been deployed against Taiwan, South China Sea and border areas of India.

Launch Slideshow 3 PHOTOS

Globally, the operational fleet of strategic bombers is limited to just three nations: the United States, Russia and China. The strategic bombers can deliver a nuclear warhead, making them one of the three delivery methods of a nuclear triad.

"The H-6K family provides the PLA with a flexible, relatively low cost, and reliable regional strike capability that has been – and is actively being – procured in large numbers," Rick Joe wrote in The Diplomat.