"China's Large Heavy Bomber Sortie" Topic

Seems the size of those Chinese Strategic Bomber patrols are increasing, with 8 aircraft flying near Japan, and up to 10 near South Korea.

6 of the 8 were heavy bombers, paired with an AWACs plane and an intel gathering one. Not sure of the mix for those near SK.

F-15s were scrambled by both Japan and South Korea to intercept them. Up to 10 fighters by the SK Air Force, in that incident.

link

Are 40 year old TU-16 knock-offs a threat in 2017?

Sure they potentially are. Even a 70 year old Bull bomber could be a threat if it is carrying a nuke. A a flight of Badgers could be a threat if only one of them loaded with a nuke; if all of them were armed they could devastate either country. Not intercepting a sortie would allow the Chinese to scout the RADAR defense capabilities of both countries with the AWACS getting information that can be used later.

I suspect that was the intention of their sorties this time.

Both Mako and Brad are each correct re: the PLAF's
intent with those flights.

Recon'ing radar coverage and surveillance abilities
is a 'game' which has been played by and among the
different powers for decades.

I'm not so sure of the relevance of ground-based
tracking stations, network filters/reporting stations
and so forth since GPS-guided munitions could take those
out with relative ease, but the intel to be gained
from the signals themselves is probably well worth
the effort.

Are 40 year old TU-16 knock-offs a threat in 2017?

You realize, of course, that the B52 came on active service 61 years ago. 40 years is nada depending on the payload.

One problem countries like the UK have is that we didn't keep some of our 'old' equipment. A few updated Vulcans, Harriers and possibly even Buccaneers still on the active list would give us a far more more potent air force.

Yea, those Bucs would be useful, and I suspect, far less costly to operate/maintain than the Vulcans.

Perhaps the Tornadoes can carry nukes, if pressed.