China’s upcoming H-20 stealth bomber does not compare with either the United States Cold War-era B-2 Spirit bomber — nor with the upcoming B-21 Raider, a sixth-generation bomber. This comes according to the Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, General Stephen L. Davis. Though General Davis did concede that the Chinese are fielding increasingly sophisticated aircraft, he regards their designs as less sophisticated and therefore less capable.
The H-20 Clear Has Some Sort of Flaw or Problem: The Air Force Drops a Hint
“I can certainly understand their desire to have a long-range strike capability like the United States, and I know that they’re pursuing it aggressively,” General Davis explained during the course of an interview with TWZ, a website. However, he added, “what I can tell you is they’re just not there yet. I think our adversaries look at our long-range strike capabilities, and… want to mimic them, but they can’t.”
H-20 Bomber from China. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A Pioneer — Currently without Rival
There is only one fifth-generation bomber in service now: the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
And while that platform is unrivaled, its replacement, the B-21 Raider, is already on the horizon.
Though both aircraft are outwardly similar, flying-wing types that eschew a tail assembly for superior stealth, the Raider is widely anticipated to be significantly more stealthy.
China, too, has a similar flying wing-type bomber in the works.
That aircraft, called the H-20, appears to broadly follow the same design principles that guided American aircraft, according to a PLAAF promotional video that reveals the H-20, though only briefly.
That aircraft’s development has presumably hit headwinds of some kind, and when it enters service is an open question.
In the meantime, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s main bomber is the H-6, a Chinese-made derivative of the Tu-16 Badger, one of the mainstays of the Soviet bomber force. In the nuclear delivery role, the PLAAF operates the H-6N, a variant of the H-6.
H-6 Bomber from China. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“There’s no other country in the world that can take and deliver a long-range strike platform pretty much on any day, in any time and place that they’re choosing, right?” General Davis emphasized, underscoring the much more modest tasking of the Chinese bomber fleet. “Really, China is a regional bomber force at best. I think they’re trying to continue to develop that.”
I Spy, You Spy
American intelligence appears not to be particularly worried about China’s H-20.
Speaking to Breaking Defense, a security website, an official from the Department of Defense outlined how the H-20 stacks up to its American counterparts in the U.S. Air Force, the B-2 and B-21.
A B-21 Raider test aircraft lands at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during ongoing developmental flight testing, Sept. 11, 2025. The B-21 will be the backbone of the bomber fleet; it will incrementally replace the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers. (U.S Air Force photo by Todd Schannuth)
A second B-21 Raider, the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber, joins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 11, 2025. The program is a cornerstone of the Department of the Air Force’s nuclear modernization strategy, designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear payloads. (Courtesy photo)
“The thing with the H-20 is when you actually look at the system design, it’s probably nowhere near as good as US LO [Low-Observable] platforms, particularly more advanced ones that we have coming down,” that official explained. In addition, the official said, the Chinese have “run into a lot of engineering design challenges, in terms of how do you actually make that system capability function in a similar way to, like, a B-2 or a B-21.”
Of course, assessing the capabilities of an adversary — particularly the military capabilities of what could well be one of the most secretive but advanced military projects in China — with accuracy is exceedingly difficult.
Still, overall assessments of the H-20 appear to be backed by the dearth of public appearances of that bomber.
But the Department of Defense official was emphatic in their assessment. When queried about how the H-20 affects military planning, they said simply, “not really.”
The Edge in the Air
For now, it seems, the United States Air Force is unrivaled in the air, and in particular, the American stealth bomber fleet. “We have a requirement to be able to do that, day-to-day, for the President. We have to be able to penetrate adversary air defenses and deliver capabilities as directed,” General Davis added.
“We’ll continue to do that, as I said, by essentially, you know, taking all the information we can get, and integrating the B-21. Obviously, one of the great things about the B-21 is it’s going to be much more capable, it will have more sensors, it will have more inputs to it that will make it even stronger and more capable as a penetrating bomber.”
B-21 Raider. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Into the Future
When the H-20 enters service with the PLAAF is unclear, as are more definitive details about the bomber.
It is certainly possible — even likely — that there is more information known about that program and the H-20 bomber itself that is not publicly known.
But for now, at least, the B-2 and B-21 are the world’s pacing stealth bomber threats.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the shifting battle lines in Donbas and writing about the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
