China might have teased its H-20 stealth bomber by trolling the US - here's what we know about it

Screenshot/China Defense Online

Screenshot of possible H-20 under a sheet.

• China may have released a video teaser of its H-20 stealth bomber and trolled the US's stealth bombers in the process, according to The Drive. 
• The shot of the possible H-20 looks eerily similar to a Northrop Grumman advertisement of the B-21 Raider, which ran during the 2015 Super Bowl, but it's unclear if its actually the H-20. 
• The H-20 is expected to be a nuclear strike aircraft with a range of at least 5,000 miles and a payload of at least 10 tons. 

China may have released a video teaser of its H-20 stealth bomber and trolled the US's stealth bombers in the process, according to The Drive. 

China's state-run aviation and defense company, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, recently posted a video celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, a subsidiary of AVIC, The Drive reported.

The video, which China Daily tweeted, ends with a shadowy wide shot of bomber-looking aircraft covered in a sheet with text reading "The Next" appearing on the screen. 

The shot looks eerily similar to a Northrop Grumman advertisement of the B-21 Raider, which ran during the 2015 Super Bowl, The Drive reported, adding that China Defense Online may have also added the ending itself. As such, it's unclear if it's legit. 

Still, China has been in search of a long-range bomber. 

In 2015, Chinese defense experts said China needed to develop a long-range bomber that could strike targets far from its coast, AFP reported at the time.

Then in 2016, General Ma Xiaotian, a PLA Air Force commander, said China was researching the development of such a bomber, according to Popular Science. 

The Drive also reported that conception of the H-20 may have even come before that, citing Airforce Monthly as saying that XAC had built small models of it, but in 2011, the program came to a halt. 

In any event, the Pentagon confirmed in 2017 report that China was "developing a strategic bomber that officials expect to have a nuclear mission," also noting that "[past] PLA writings expressed the need to develop a 'stealth strategic bomber,' suggesting aspirations to field a strategic bomber with a nuclear delivery capability."

To that end, the H-20 needs to be capable of carrying a 10 ton payload and have a range of 5,000 miles, The Drive reported.

Popular Science reported that the H-20, in order to strike different continents, needs a 6,200 mile range and carry a 10-20 ton payload, which would most likely require four WS-10 turbofan engines. 

Whatever the specifications would be, a researcher working with the US Air Force told Business Insider that the H-20 is a four engine stealth bomber and that the details have not been "revealed except it is to have a dual [nuclear and conventional] role."

China Defense Blog

An artist's rendering of the JH-XX.

The researcher also said that China has built three static H-20 airframes without electronics and engines. 

The Drive reported that the H-20's main weapon would probably be KD-20 cruise missiles, and Popular Science reported that it would carry the KD-20s in its internal weapons bays.

The H-20 might eventually even carry "GB-6A stealth cruise missiles and hypersonic scramjet missiles," and act as a command and control aircraft, Popular Science reported.

The "deployment and integration" of a nuclear bomber "would provide China with its first credible nuclear 'triad' of delivery systems dispersed across land, sea, and air," the 2017 Pentagon report on China's military said.