US strike on Iran highlights China's need for strategic bombers, analysts say
China's military – even as it makes progress with sixth-generation fighters and long-range missiles – given their role in global strikes and nuclear deterrence, analysts say.
Advertisement
They pointed to the
American B-2 stealth bombers that hit Iran's three nuclear sites on Saturday, dropping bunker-buster bombs directly over the facilities before returning unscathed.
Seven of the B-2 bombers were flown nearly 27,000km (16,700 miles) – supported by more than 100 other aircraft including aerial tankers – in the mission that lasted 37 hours.
With China's next-gen stealth bomber,
the H-20 , still under development, analysts said the US Air Force operation underscored the importance of these warplanes.
'A dedicated strategic bomber is irreplaceable, even in an era when other long‑range strike options exist,' said Song Zhongping, a military analyst and former People's Liberation Army instructor.
Advertisement
'A strategic bomber can carry out both nuclear and conventional attacks. It is a vital weapon for any major military power, and one that cannot be sacrificed for another.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Meet China's first home-grown carrier, the Shandong – a bridge to a blue-water future
Almost a decade has passed since the People's Liberation Army pulled the trigger on President Xi Jinping's plans for a massive overhaul of the world's biggest military. In the latest of a series on Chinese weapon systems, Seong Hyeon Choi looks at what China's second aircraft carrier tells us about the PLA Navy's blue water ambitions. The Shandong – which arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday for its inaugural five-day port call to the city – is the PLA Navy's second aircraft carrier and its first to be built in China. The carrier is escorted by the missile destroyers Yanan and Zhanjiang, along with the missile frigate Yuncheng, and will host a series of tours and cultural exchanges during its visit. The Shandong's homeport is in Hainan, southern China, where the carrier is in service with the navy's Southern Theatre Command , which mainly operates near the South China Sea. With a full-load displacement of 70,000 tonnes, the Shandong has become an instrument of Beijing's long-range naval power projection across the island chains that have for decades marked the defensive boundaries of the United States and its allies in the Western Pacific. Home-grown The Shandong, commissioned in December 2019 and officially designated Type 002, kick-started China's dual-carrier era. Its fellow carrier, the Liaoning, was reconstructed from a Soviet Kuznetsov-class vessel and delivered to the PLA Navy in 2012.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Economist Huang Yiping floats Hong Kong as stablecoin staging ground
Issuing a stablecoin pegged to the offshore yuan in Hong Kong may be more feasible than in mainland China due to the latter's capital controls, a central bank adviser has said. The comments from Huang Yiping, also dean of Peking University's National School of Development, came as worries arise in Beijing's policy circles that Washington could gain an upper hand through the cryptocurrency offshoot as a means of consolidating US dollar dominance. 'As China's capital account is not fully liberalised, it would be very difficult to roll out a stablecoin domestically,' he told financial news outlet on Wednesday. Huang, an influential figure in his second stint at the People's Bank of China's monetary policy committee, acknowledged Hong Kong's speedy progress in this area. The special administrative region – often a staging ground for financial experimentation – has taken a more permissive stance than the mainland. In late May, the city passed a law establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins that is set to take effect on August 1. Although stablecoins can be pegged to any fiat currency, more than 99 per cent are currently backed by the US dollar or US dollar-denominated assets – far exceeding the US dollar's roughly 50 per cent share in global payments and its 58 per cent share of global foreign exchange reserves. 'The issue with issuing a stablecoin in Hong Kong is that if it's pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, which in turn is pegged to the US dollar - so ultimately, it's the US dollar that plays the foundational role,' Huang said.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Can Rubio's Asia tour ease anxiety over US tariffs or is it just ‘short-term gimmickry'?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to Asia next week on a high-profile diplomatic tour, but his visit is not expected to ease growing anxiety in Southeast Asia , which is bracing itself for the return of steep US tariffs that threaten to derail growth and test ties with Washington. Rubio is expected to fly to Kuala Lumpur for meetings on July 10-11 with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and other Asia-Pacific countries, according to media reports. He reportedly cancelled plans to head to Japan and South Korea to attend to a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss an end to the war in Gaza. The Asia trip will mark the highest-level visit to the region by a US official since President Donald Trump returned to office in January – but expectations remain low for any immediate economic reprieve. US President Donald Trump has said he is 'not thinking about the pause' in tariffs. Photo: TNS Trump first announced his sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs on April 2, imposing up to 50 per cent duties on imports from certain countries. A 90-day pause was granted to allow for negotiations, but is set to expire on July 9.
