The NEW Chinese Bomber Fleet is working.

Millennium7* History & Technology

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Transcript

00:00There are three countries in the world that can operate bombers.

00:03United States, and we know a lot about them.

00:07Russia, and unfortunately we have seen them at work in the past year.

00:13And China, and we know very little about them.

00:30Actually, it's not true.

00:55We know something about the Chinese bombers.

00:58We know that they really up their game when it comes to training.

01:04The PLA every decade or so publishes a document called, in English, the OMTE, which is the

01:13acronym of Outline of Military Training and Evaluation.

01:17The last and the current one was published in 2018 and revised in 2019.

01:23The OMTE describes the scenarios that need to be trained and the capabilities that every

01:28bomber formation must be proficient in.

01:31As recently as 2014, bomber units used to fall short of their training requirements.

01:38Segments of the OMTE were ignored because of the lack of time.

01:43Inside the Chinese bomber fleet was reluctant to fly at night or in bad weather.

01:48For example, in 2015, an H-6 bomber of the 8th Air Division, after a training patrol

01:54above the South China Sea, had to unexpectedly land in low visibility.

01:59And apparently this was considered a noteworthy achievement.

02:04The Chinese split the day in three sections, day 8 to 16, night 16 to midnight, and after

02:12midnight, that is, 0 to 8.

02:15Some training missions took just one segment, so the time and the mission complexity were

02:21really constrained.

02:23By the mid-2000s, with the growing Chinese ambitions, came the realization that this

02:28type of training was simply not adequate anymore.

02:45In August 2018, several H-6Us of the 8th Air Division executed a redeployment in central

03:00China, a few thousands of kilometers away from their bases.

03:05There they conducted flight refueling missions in a quite challenging environment.

03:10The weather wasn't ideal, electronic jamming was operating, and last-minute route changes

03:15were introduced.

03:17And this was just an example of the latest Chinese training syllabus.

03:22Long missions lasting even more than 24 hours, with stops at different air bases, are becoming

03:27increasingly common.

03:29During these missions, the cooperation with different units is tested in bad weather,

03:34at night, and in difficult conditions.

03:36And one particular type of these missions are those where the units are relocated to

03:40the Tibetan Plateau.

03:42There, the difficult environmental conditions, the altitude in particular, are very challenging,

03:48and the Chinese bombers are trying to operate there.

03:51A constant element of bomber training exercises is now a degraded electronic environment.

03:58Electronic jamming is always present, and the pilots train toward executing the mission

04:04without using the radio.

04:06Radio silence is becoming the norm.

04:08In general, there are fewer and fewer scripted situations with every mission, including autonomous

04:14opponents, unexpected events, and, when planned, live-fire exercises.

04:29In 2013, China declared an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.

04:35That event marked the beginning of a flurry of activity to establish an air presence in

04:41the region.

04:42The bomber fleet was involved too.

04:44In 2015, the H-6 bombers started flying missions through the Miyako Strait, north of Taiwan,

04:50and through the Bashi Channel, south of Taiwan.

04:54Bombers penetrate deep into the Pacific and execute simulated attacks to naval targets.

05:00They often get in range of Guam, potentially simulating missile strikes on the American

05:05base.

05:06These missions have progressively grown in numbers and complexity.

05:10In 2016, a single mission through the Miyako Strait included 40 aircraft.

05:16There were 16 bombers, but also Su-30s, Su-35s, AWACS, and tankers.

05:22And in the last few years, the Chinese are even building remotely piloted target vessels

05:27capable of autonomous movement, which are used as target replicas.

05:33Moreover, the H-6 is not a modern airframe, so long flights are quite taxing for the pilots.

05:39So the Chinese now train the pilots physically and mentally to cope with the long hours required

05:45for these missions.

05:47It is also quite important to note the increased emphasis on training young pilots in these

05:52complex environments, rather than relying on more expert personnel to guarantee the

05:57success.

05:58It seems that they have a rule that, during these complex missions, 50% of all the flight

06:03personnel must be junior.

06:06These complex missions over water are becoming increasingly common, and the Chinese Air Force

06:10seems to have become quite comfortable with them.

06:13In fact, they are investing in creating a maritime auxiliary organization that has the

06:18quite old name of Air Force Naval Bases.

06:22This organization is picking up all the auxiliary activities connected with operating at sea.

06:26These include search and rescue, and search and rescue training, the meteorological service,

06:32the management of target ships, and so on.

06:36Taiwan and the ocean beyond are not the only Chinese concern.

06:54China has been overly active in the South China Sea too.

06:57As many will know, China is claiming several islands in the South China Sea, but this claim

07:02is disputed by other countries bordering the sea.

07:05The Chinese have built military and civilian installations in several of them, including

07:10runways that can be used to operate the bombers.

07:15Fighter aircraft have been operating from these islands since their construction, and

07:19it is a well-known fact.

07:21The bombers have started too.

07:22In 2018, bombers from the 108th Regiment of the 36th Air Division redeployed on Woody

07:30Island, and there they operated for at least a couple of days.

07:35This was another example of long-range deployment, but till then they never redeployed on the

07:42basis of the South China Sea.

07:44Now it seems that the Chinese regularly conduct long-range bomber patrols in the South China

07:48Sea with two-ship flights that may or may not be accompanied by escort fighters.

07:54And this is another example of the new normal for the Chinese bomber fleet.

08:00Now, I can hear the objection that many of you may have at this point.

08:26What the Chinese are doing is, after all, what an efficient Air Force should be doing.

08:32Western Air Forces have been doing this for decades, so what's the point?

08:36Well, the point is that they were not doing this till recently, but in a few years they

08:42turned around and started doing it.

08:45So the point that I'm trying to make is that the Chinese are growing.

08:50The gap with the West gets thinner and thinner with every training mission.

08:55It is clear that the Chinese are trying to catch up militarily with the West and they

09:00are trying to play the same game.

09:03They have a symmetric vision of the military challenge.

09:07They should not be easily dismissed.

09:09Thank you for watching this short video and an even bigger thank you to all those who

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09:32So, thank you very much for watching and see you next time.

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