It's no wonder that the leaders of the army will be like this. I really didn't expect that the development and production units of bombers with Tengfei group and northwest aviation factory as the core would go so far along this road.
In fact, the bombers described in the report on the research and development planning of bombers with the capability of receiving oil in the air and long-range missile mounting are not unfamiliar to the headquarters or the high-level, but they are the H-8 heavy bombers proposed in the 1970s.
The parameters determined at that time were 48.5 meters in length, 13.85 meters in height, 46.47 meters in wingspan, 65 tons in empty weight, 155 tons in normal take-off weight, 163 tons in maximum take-off weight, 18 tons in maximum missile load, 14000 meters in maximum lift limit and 11000 kilometers in maximum range.
The whole data looks very good, especially in the 1970s, it was a very good bomber.
But in fact, the whole Hong 8 can be seen as a plus version of Hong 6.
The bomber plan reported by Tengfei group and northwest aviation factory basically follows this plan, but some changes have been made on the basis of it.
For example, six American jt-3d turbofan engines are used in Laohong 8, while four wd-66ml turboprop engines produced by Tengfei group are used in the new scheme reported by Tengfei group and Northwest Airlines.
The single power is 7665 kW; the maximum output power is 8710 kW, equivalent to 11842 shaft horsepower.
Its capability is second only to the nk-12 turboprop engine customized by the former Soviet Union for TU-95 strategic bomber.
Of course, the wd-66ml turboprop engine is not the nk-12 turboprop engine after all. The power difference is more than 2000 kW. Therefore, the maximum take-off weight of Xinhong 8 is not only 185 tons of TU-95 strategic bomber, but also 163 tons of Laohong 8.
Because of this, the maximum take-off weight of the new H8 was reduced to 125 tons.
However, thanks to the application of a large number of composite materials and light alloy materials, the ammunition load of the new H8 was increased to 23 tons, which exceeded the maximum ammunition load of 20.8 tons of the latest improved tu-95-95ms strategic bomber of the former Soviet Union.
Thus, it can carry one air launched anti-ship ballistic missile to carry out the long-range anti-ship combat mission outside the first island chain; it can also carry two anti satellite missiles to launch at an altitude of 10000 meters to destroy various satellite systems in the enemy's outer space.
Of course, the traditional trinity of nuclear deterrence, not to mention, has a missile carrying capacity of 23 tons, a range of more than 8000 km, and is capable of carrying out various types of strategic strikes against any target in any direction in the world with dzb-2000 cruise missiles.
However, this is only a transitional model in the new H8 scheme proposed by Tengfei group and Northwest Airlines, because turboprop engine is not the mainstream power direction of future bombers after all.
But now, in addition to the wd-66ml turboprop engine, China has come up with a suitable military turbofan engine with large bypass ratio. We can only use the wd-66ml turboprop engine to solve the problem of heavy strategic bombers.
After all, as a supplementary plan of the "killer mace" project, in addition to the daily Trinity nuclear deterrence, Xinhong 8 has two conventional tasks:
one is to go out of the first island chain and use ultra long-range air launched anti-ship ballistic missiles to block the large surface warship formation of a large country outside the region from the periphery of the second island chain.
The other is to carry anti satellite missiles to attack enemy satellites.
Based on this, Xinhong 8 is more to assume the role of a large attack weapon transportation platform, which is not applicable to the attack tactics of bombers popular in the 1970s and 1980s, such as speed and penetration.
Even as a simple bomber with a long-range weapon such as dzb-2000 cruise missile with a range of 2000 km, which can be launched outside the enemy's defense zone, the old means of low altitude supersonic penetration also appear risky and outdated.
Because of this, although the new H8 has four large propellers like the figure-95, which seems to be no different from the bombers of World War II, if anyone dares to underestimate it, the new H8 will definitely make the other side feel overwhelmed.
However, to meet the demand does not mean to hold back. Once the new generation of military turbofan engine with large bypass ratio and the wd-66sm turbofan engine with thrust of 15-18 tons of Tengfei group comes to the ground, the new H-8 with new power will be a qualitative leap forward.
The most intuitive thing is that there is a new breakthrough in weapon carrying, that is, the airborne laser weapon system. After all, the turbofan engine has more power, can produce more power output, and can withstand the energy consumption of high-energy laser. Therefore, the new H8 with high-power turbofan engine can be used as the carrier of high-energy laser weapons and become an air-based laser weapon platform When it comes to anti satellite or intercepting ballistic missiles, the army has a new choice.
As for the final complete version, needless to say, it must be the stealth strategic bomber, which Tengfei group has been devoted to since the day it got on the right track.
Explain that Xinhong 8 will have a maximum take-off weight of 150 tons to 180 tons, adopt flying wing aerodynamic layout, S-shaped inlet, four wd-66st turbofan engines with small bypass ratio, and a single maximum thrust of about 17 tons.With a missile carrying capacity of 25 tons, it can launch all kinds of long-range strike weapons, including anti satellite missiles.
In the case of radio silence, the first island chain and the second island chain can shuttle at will without being found by the enemy.
At that time, the control power of the Chinese air force will be officially promoted from the first island chain to the periphery of the second island chain.
The idea of the whole report is not only magnificent, but also ambitious.
But it is precisely because of this that many big leaders have questioned and opposed it.
Among other things, whether the last stealth bomber is necessary or not, let alone at home, is debated all over the world. Among other things, the B-2 strategic stealth bombers built by the United States during the cold war were cut immediately after the end of the cold war, and the final purchase quantity was only 21.
The reason for this is that the cost of this strategic bomber is too expensive. In the 1990s, the unit price exceeded US $2 billion, so that the value of B-2 is more expensive than that of gold of the same weight.
Even the only superpower, the United States, is crying bitterly in the face of expensive B-2. Coupled with the rapid development of weapons outside the defense zone and the rapid development of multi-purpose fighters such as fighter bombers, they are challenging the traditional status of bombers. Because of this, from the day the B-2 was equipped, the voice of questioning has been rising.
It is impossible for the domestic troops who feel the U.S. Army crossing the river not to notice the voice of questioning the B-2 in the United States, so they are also examining whether stealth aircraft can really stir up the backbone of the future air force.
Now that we have made every effort to support the next generation of combat aircraft, we really need to take a good look at whether we should support another expensive equipment that even the US military wants to cry.
However, before waiting for the military leaders to come to a clear conclusion, they suddenly found that the first stage of the new hong8 project seems to have been completed. To be more precise, there is a legal name conversion between yun-18nb and xinhong8.
Because the words pointed by the leader next to the military leader were very clear: "we have started to carry out the opening and retracting test of large bomb cabin on a self-developed aircraft, and have obtained extremely valuable test data and operation experience."