Xian H-8 - Variants

Variants

• Xian H-6I - Prototype of Xian H-8. Powered by 4 Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 512 engines, originally purchased as spare engines for Hawker Siddeley Trident China had bought. Program first begun in 1970 and maiden flight was made in 1978, with state certification received in the following year, and the designation subsequently changed to Xian H-8 somewhere between 1978 and 1979, as it was prepared to entered series production. In comparison to the original H-6, the fuselage is lengthened and the engines are rearranged to be carried in individual pods under the wings. Ferry range is increased to 8,100 km (with standard payload), and combat radius is increased to over 5,000 km (with nuclear payload).
• Xian H-8 - Follow-on of Xian H-6I, which replaces the Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 512 engines with Rolls-Royce Spey Mk 202 engines to reduce operational cost and to simply logistics. However, this was not enough to save the program and during the massive military downsizing in the 1980s, China canceled the program in 1980 before the start of the scheduled production.
• Internet speculation has described the H-8 bomber as a new advanced Chinese stealth aircraft, but it is unlikely that China has such an aircraft in service.