Chinese H-6K bomber just flew near the border with India
Source : RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.
Screenshots were tweeted by Freelance Journalist Aadil Brar |
Chinese state-owned broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV) has shown some video footage of a pair of Chinese H-6K bomber flying near the Line of Actual Control equipped with KD-63 land-attack cruise missiles that has a range of 200km. PLAAF has a base at Kashgar airport in the Uyghur autonomous region of Xinjiang which is just 800km away from Ladakh, where last year clashes broke between two forces along the disputed Line of Actual Control.
The H-6 is a much improved Chinese variant of the old Soviet-era Tu-16 medium-range bomber. H-6 has been operating from Kashgar since 2020, which is situated 4,000 feet above sea level that has come as a major challenge to the old warhorse of the PLAAF due to high altitude limitations that severally reduces engine power generation at such due to thin air that also has direct impact on the maximum take-off capability of the aircraft due to which just a handful of smaller missiles can be carried as seen with the use of short-range KD-63 missiles.
The Chinese air force also has deployed bombers in the Tibetan Plateau that are within striking distance of Indian forces deployed in Sikkim. The Chinese air force has been struggling to operate from the high altitude airbases in the region but has managed to make most of the airbase all weather that allows them permanent deployment of these jets from this forward bases in the Himalayas but the weather continues to be a great challenge in the area that is a less-than-ideal zone for flying let alone for air-combat operations.
IAF in response has deployed Mig-29UPG and Su-30MKI in the forward airbase in Ladakh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
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