H-6K

China's principal long-range conventional stand-off strike aircraft — a heavily rebuilt Tu-16 derivative that carries up to six cruise missiles on underwing pylons and anchors the People's Liberation Army's bomber patrols across the western Pacific.

Overview

The Xian H-6K is the most numerous and operationally significant modern variant of the H-6 family, a Chinese-built evolution of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 medium bomber (NATO reporting name “Badger”). While the airframe traces its lineage to the 1950s, the H-6K is an essentially new aircraft: it replaces the original turbojets with high-bypass turbofans, fits a modern glass cockpit and a nose-mounted radar, and transforms the old bomb bay into a fuel tank to make room for six underwing hardpoints carrying long-range cruise missiles. It is operated by both the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and the PLA Naval Air Force (PLANAF) and is the backbone of China’s bomber-based conventional deterrence posture, with no export customers.

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