H-6K bombers conduct nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights

H-6K轰炸机进行夜间环台飞行

A bomber attached to an aviation regiment of the air force under the PLA Southern Theater Command taxies on the runway to get ready for a flight training exercise in late February, 2023. (Photo:China Military Online)

2023年2月下旬，隶属于解放军南方战区司令部空军航空兵团的一架轰炸机在跑道上滑行，准备进行飞行训练。（图片：中国军事在线）

H-6K bombers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force have carried out nighttime sorties encircling the island of Taiwan, a move experts said on Monday will become routine and will send a warning to everyone who attempts to separate the island from China.

中国人民解放军空军的H-6K轰炸机对台湾进行了夜间环岛飞行，专家于周一表示，此举将成为例行公事，并将向所有试图将台湾岛从中国分离出去的人发出警告。

The second air group under an aviation regiment of the PLA Air Force was the first unit to conduct nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights since the commissioning of the H-6K bomber, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.

据中国中央电视台周一报道，中国人民解放军空军一个航空团下属的第二航空大队是自H-6K轰炸机服役以来第一个对台湾岛进行夜间环岛飞行的单位。

"We have the capability to sortie at any time and anywhere, be it at day, at night, or before dawn," Wei Xiaogang, an instructor at the air group, said in the CCTV report.

“我们有能力随时随地出动，无论是白天、晚上还是黎明前，”该空军大队教官魏小刚在中央电视台的报道中说。

It is a rare occasion that the public is informed about nighttime encirclement flights around the island of Taiwan by H-6K bombers. In May 2018, the defense authority on the island of Taiwan said it had for the first time spotted such a PLA operation, but there was little information afterward, observers said.

公众获知H-6K轰炸机夜间包围台湾岛的情况实属罕见。观察人士称，2018年5月，台湾岛防务当局表示首次发现了解放军的此类行动，但后来几乎没有任何信息。

Such nighttime PLA activities around the island of Taiwan are expected to become routine, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese mainland military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Monday.

中国大陆军事航空专家傅前哨于周一告诉《环球时报》，预计解放军在台湾岛周围的夜间活动将成为例行公事。

The H-6K's nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights demonstrated the bomber's increasing all-weather, round-the-clock capabilities, Fu said.

傅说，H-6K的夜间环台飞行展示了轰炸机日益增长的全天候能力。

Provocations by "Taiwan independence" secessionists and external interference forces could also take place at night, Fu said, citing then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's evening landing on the island of Taiwan in August 2022. "That is why the PLA must be ready to complete alert patrols and combat missions no matter the time," Fu said.

傅说，“台独”分裂分子和外部干涉势力的挑衅也可能发生在夜间，并引用了当时的美国众议院议长南希·佩洛西在2022年8月晚上登陆台湾岛的话。“这就是为什么解放军必须做好准备，无论何时都能完成警戒巡逻和战斗任务，”傅说。

While a nighttime sortie is more challenging to pilots, it also applies significantly more pressure to adversaries, because the latter would have to remain on high alert passively all the time, analysts said.

分析人士表示，虽然夜间出击对飞行员来说更具挑战性，但它也给对手带来了更大的压力，因为后者必须始终被动地保持高度戒备。

It showed the PLA's capabilities in safeguarding national sovereignty and unity, and sent a warning to those who conduct secessionist activities, Fu said.

傅说，这显示了人民解放军维护国家主权和统一的能力，并对那些从事分裂活动的人发出了警告。

In addition to encircling the island of Taiwan at night, the bomber air group also set many records when its H-6Ks broke the first island chain and carried out far sea exercises over the Pacific Ocean more than 100 times, conducted combat patrols in the South China Sea, and integrated with forces on land, at sea, in the air and in space, CCTV reported.

据央视报道，除了夜间环台飞行外，轰炸机航空群还创下了多项纪录，其H-6k突破了第一岛链，在太平洋上空进行了100多次远海演习，在南海进行了战斗巡逻，并与陆、海、空、空部队进行了整合。

"We don't recognize the so-called island chain. To us, [those missions] are just far sea sorties," Mutefa Aili, a squadron leader at the air group who has experience dealing with close-in disturbances by foreign aircraft during missions, said.

“我们不承认所谓的岛链。对我们来说，（那些任务）只是远海出击，”该航空大队的一名中队长穆特法·艾利（Mutefa Aili）表示，他在执行任务时有处理外国飞机近距离干扰的经验。

Also, in a joint naval and air exercise in 2018, the unit's H-6K for the first time hit a genuine warship target with a new type of missile. In 2022, the unit developed a bomb trajectory calculation software that reduced the time required by 80 percent and raised accuracy by 20 percent, the report said.

此外，在2018年的一次海空联合演习中，该部队的H-6K首次用新型导弹击中了真正的军舰目标。报告称，2022年，该单位开发了一种炸弹弹道计算软件，将所需时间减少了80%，准确性提高了20%。

The H-6K bomber is capable of carrying a wide variety of munitions including the KD-20 land attack missile, the YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship missile and the YJ-21 hypersonic missile, according to publicly available information.

据公开信息显示，H-6K轰炸机能够携带各种弹药，包括KD-20对地攻击导弹、YJ-12超音速反舰导弹和YJ-21高超音速导弹。