According to various news outlets, China recently flew a "nuclear capable" bomber over the South China Sea. The flight outlined China's territorial claims in the region, the logic goes, and the fact that it was carried out with a bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons emphasized the seriousness of the matter.

Except it's not quite true. The bomber used in the overflight—the Xian H-6K—doesn't actually carry nuclear weapons.

The H-6K bomber is China's copy of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 "Badger" nuclear bomber. The Badger, as NATO nicknamed it, first appeared in the 1950s and was designed to fly to distant targets—including the continental United States and NATO countries—and drop nuclear free-fall bombs. It was later modified to target U.S. Navy aircraft carriers with anti-ship cruise missiles.

China started cranking out copies of the Badger in the late 1950s, but for the most part it relied on them as conventional bombers. According to arms control and Chinese nuclear weapons scholar Jeffrey Lewis, the People's Liberation Army converted exactly one H-6 to carry nuclear weapons for atmospheric nuclear tests. Furthermore, there are currently no nuclear aerial bombs in the China's nuclear stockpile. Slow and lumbering, the H-6K is equipped to carry out standoff attacks with DF-10 cruise missiles armed with high explosive warheads.

H-6K bomber with cruise missile payload. Via Getty Images.

China's flight over the South China Sea was meant to reinforce its claim of the region, and according to The Independent it overflew the so-called "Nine Dash Line" that demarcates the ninety percent of the South China Sea it claims from the ten percent it doesn't.

The United States and other countries in the region do not accept the Nine Dash Line, and have conducted flights over the area to demonstrate they have the right to pass through. In November 2015, the United States flew a pair of B-52Hs through the South China Sea near China's artificial islands. Unlike the H-6K, the B-52H is capable of carrying both conventional weapons and nuclear-armed Air Launch Cruise Missiles.

What does it matter whether the H-6 is nuclear capable or not? Both sides of this delicate dance—the Americans and Chinese—are doing these overflights as a form of "signaling" meant to show the other side they mean business. And what you send is a big part of the signal. Conventionally-armed bombers generally means readiness to fight a conventional war, as Lewis notes, while signaling with nuclear bombers signals readiness to fight something much, much worse. It's a warning for sure, but to jump straight to nukes might be ratcheting up the already heightening tensions a little faster than necessary.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io