China's Long Range Bombers a Strategic Challenge to the Region

Abstract

The Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) fleet is a legacy left behind by the Cold War era when trans-regional and inter-continental range bombers were part of the nuclear triad. The United States (US) and the Soviet Union maintained LRSBs primarily to support nuclear missions but during the height of the Cold War, these bombers were also kept ready for conventional missions. China has been working for a long to develop LRSBs to put in place a credible nuclear triad. China has redefined its strategic boundaries and is asserting to break the myth of the ‘first and second island chains' to project power beyond these geographical bottlenecks through maritime and air power. The strategic bombers give China flexibility to gain access to the Western Pacific and north-south movement along the Asian seaboard to complement its Anti-Access/Area Denial (AA/AD) strategy.