Get Ready, Japan: China's 'Cruise Missile Carriers' Go on Patrol

Dave Majumdar

Security, Asia

A fantastic voyage beyond the first island chain and beyond...

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) bomber force recently conducted exercises beyond “the first island chain” according to the Chinese defense ministry.

While the Chinese government offered few details, the exercise involved sending Xian H-6K bombers more than 600 miles beyond a line of islands which—depending on the definition— includes everything from the Kuril Islands in the north, the Japanese home islands, Ryukyu islands, Taiwan, the Philippines, to Borneo, down to the Malaysian Peninsula. In this particular case, the Chinese said that their aircraft were operating over the Miyako Strait just south of the Japanese island of Okinawa on Nov. 27, 2015, according to PLAAF spokesman Shen Jinke. In addition to the bombers, the PLAAF sent fighters and airborne early warning aircraft over the area. According to Shen Kinke, the PLAAF aircraft were patrolling China’s self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea.

The Chinese exercise is significant because it demonstrates that Beijing is serious about enforcing its ADIZ over the region. Moreover, the presence of the H-6K bombers together with their fighter escort—which appear to be variants of the Russian-built Su-30 Flanker—are a signal to the Pentagon and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to maintain their distance.

The H-6K—which is a highly upgraded version of the antiquated 1950s-era Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-16 Badger—is the PLAAF’s mainstay bomber. But while the Badger is an antique, internally, the H-6K is a modern aircraft with a much-improved airframe, sensors and propulsion.