For several days now, the photograph of a H-6MW bomber from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China has been the subject of speculation, analysis, and debate among the specialist community. The reason originates from the captured images, despite their definition, showing the combat aircraft carrying a strange object on the ventral section of the fuselage that does not match other unmanned aerial systems or missiles in the arsenal of the People’s Republic of China.
The news in question was made public by the well-known user of the social network X, @Rupprecht_A, a collaborator and analyst for various American specialized media such as The War Zone, who disclosed the first photographs of an H-6MW bomber from the People’s Liberation Army carrying a strange object on the ventral section of its fuselage.
This novelty, announced on April 19, initiated an interesting debate and analysis by the specialist community in Open Source Information, since, due to the shape of the object, it does not match the current, and known, unmanned aerial vehicles in service with the armed forces of the Asian giant.
One of the first assertions was provided by the specialized site The War Zone, which ruled out that it was the new supersonic surveillance and reconnaissance drone WZ-8, which, according to the latest reports, has been intensively flying over the Taiwan ADIZ. This unmanned aerial vehicle, designed and developed by AVIC, was officially presented in 2019 during the parade for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Bearing resemblance in its shape and design to the DF-21 missile, it is designed to be launched from the air to conduct reconnaissance flights and collect signal intelligence. However, the images disclosed of the H-6MW bomber on April 19 do not match the sleek shape of the WZ-8.
Another possibility suggested is that it is, on the contrary, the new hypersonic combat drone MD-22, which, despite its designation, has been used for flight testing at these speeds since it was unveiled in 2022, as well as testing new propulsion systems.
It can also be presumed along those lines that it is either a new reconnaissance drone under development and not yet announced, or, conversely, a version of the aforementioned WZ-8 or the hypersonic MD-22.
The only certainty that can be drawn from these images is that the People’s Republic of China is advancing steadily, with concrete results, in the deployment of various types of drones that cover most roles within modern military operations.
*Credits and photographs to whom they correspond.
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