Yep, and note the careful wording in the original piece: "1950s Soviet designed airframe". Those aren't 50 year old planes either.
Production was performed by the plant at Xian, with at least 150 built into the 1990s. China is estimated to currently operate around 120 of the aircraft. The latest version is the cruise missile-carrying H-6K.[1]
They aren't exactly the most advanced plane in the world, but they don't need to be. It is disingenuous of the author to make it sound like the Chinese are doing anything dramatically different to what other nations do.
Sure, the J variant has upgraded engines and avionics, but the airframe is the same. The article simply says that the PLA uses the "Soviet designed airframe" of the Tu-16 and the "Soviet designed [...] An-12." It states neither that the PLA is using 50 year old airframes, nor that they are using 50 year old avionics.
So the grand-parent's comparison is entirely valid. Both the USAF and PLA use aircraft in primary roles that were designed half a century ago. And, frankly, there isn't anything wrong with that in either case. Physics hasn't changed in 50 years.
Production was performed by the plant at Xian, with at least 150 built into the 1990s. China is estimated to currently operate around 120 of the aircraft. The latest version is the cruise missile-carrying H-6K.[1]
They aren't exactly the most advanced plane in the world, but they don't need to be. It is disingenuous of the author to make it sound like the Chinese are doing anything dramatically different to what other nations do.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_H-6