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EntityQ39600· pop 30· linked from 283 articles

Also known as Xian HY-6, Hong-6, H-6

Chinese strategic bomber aircraft

Key facts

Type
Strategic bomber
National origin
China
Manufacturer
Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation
Status
In service; in production
Primary users
People's Liberation Army Air Force People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force , Egyptian Air Force (historical), Iraqi Air Force (historical)
Number built
231+ as of 2020
Manufactured
1959-present
Retired
1991 (Iraq), 2000 (Egypt)
Developed from
Tupolev Tu-16

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
Tupolev Tu-16
Country
China
Developer
Tupolev
Image
PLAAF Xian H-6H.jpg
Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Xian H-6
first flight
1955-00-00
total produced
150
military designation
H-6
armament
YJ-12
service retirement
1991-00-00
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~25 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Xi'an H-6 (Chinese: 轰-6; pinyin: Hōng-6) is a Chinese twin-engine jet heavy bomber manufactured by the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 and remains the primary bomber aircraft of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

The H-6N nuclear variant is a redesigned modernized strategic bomber carrying the JL-1 air-launched ballistic missile. As of 2025, it is considered to be the only Chinese military aircraft assigned nuclear weapons: 20 bombers are assigned up to 20 missiles with the 106th Air Brigade at the airbase in Neixiang County under Central Theater Command Air Force. It is capable of aerial refueling including via the Xi'an Y-20's tanker variants. The Xi'an H-20 is expected to eventually assume this nuclear role. The initial H-6A variant dropped live nuclear weapons in nine of China's nuclear tests, and served alongside the Harbin H-5 bomber and Nanchang Q-5 fighter before their nuclear roles were removed.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Xian H-6” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.