Xian Y-20(Kunpeng) - Production and Deliveries

Source China Daily
Editor Zhang Tao
Time 2016-11-08

China’s leading aircraft maker is developing a large cargo jet based on the Y-20 military transport plane in an attempt to put an end to foreign dominance in the field.

Designers at the Aviation Industry Corp of China are doing preliminary research on the Y-20F-100, a civilian variantoftheY-20heavy-lifttransport jet developed for the People’s Liberation Army, and they will redesign the air frame and cargo loading system, the State-owned defense technology giant said in a statement.

“This project represents our commitment to transferring military technologies to boost civilian sectors and will fill the absence of a domestically developed large cargo plane,” the statement said.

By the end of last year, there were 122 freight planes in use by cargo airlines on the Chinese mainland and most of their large freight jets were made by Boeing and Airbus, according to AVIC statistics.

Meanwhile, heavy-duty cargo jets used by the People’s Liberation Army were mainly imported from Russia, industry observers said, adding that only a handful of aviation firms in the world are able to design and produce large cargo jets.

The Y-20F-100 will be longer than the Y-20 and can carry 28 airfreight containers, or 65 metric tons of cargo, as well as supersized engineering equipment. It has a maximum range of 8,000 km, AVIC said.

A small-scale model of the Y-20F-100 was displayed at the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which ran from Tuesday to Sunday in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. The biennial event, commonly known as the Zhuhai Air Show, is believed to be the largest arms exhibition in Asia.

Development of the Y-20 started in 2007. It took its maiden flight in January 2013, and performed flight shows at the 10th Zhuhai Air Show in November 2014 and again last week. The first batch of Y-20s was delivered to the P LA Air Force in July.

Zhu Qian, head of AVIC’s large aircraft development office, previously told China Daily that more than 1,000 Y-20s and its civilian variants will be needed, explaining that this figure was calculated based on the experience of the United States and Russia, as they have used heavy-lift transport aircraft for many years.

Fu Qianshao, an aircraft expert with the PLA Air Force, said the Y-20 will be developed into a large family that will consist of earlywarning planes, aerial refueling tankers and several civilian models.

In addition, China will develop transport jets that are even larger than the Y-20, like the US’ Lockheed C -5 Galaxyand former Soviet Union’ s Antonov An-225 Mriya, according to Zhu

The image shows five such platforms lined up at Qionglai Airbase near Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province. It is known that the PLAAF's first two Y-20s were delivered to the Qionglai Airbase in June 2016 and entered service a month later after nearly a decade of design, development, and test flights. The platforms are reportedly being operated by the 12th Air Regiment of the 4th Transport Division of the Western Theatre Command.

Chinese aviation enterprise increases the production volumes of new Y-20 Kunpeng heavy military transport aircraft, China’s version of the C-17 Globemaster.

Imagery captured by commercial satellite on 12 June shows that production of the new Y-20 Kunpeng transport aircraft is continuing at Xian Aircraft Corporation facility on a high level. In total, were spotted nine Y-20 aircraft, of which seven were newly built. Also 6 new aircraft already painted and several still without their engines.

The Y-20 is a newest Chinese military transport aircraft that has an empty weight of 110 tons. US transport aircraft C-17 Globemaster III is bigger than the Y-20—the C-17’s empty weight is about 60,000 pounds more than the Y-20 and its payload capacity is 25,000 pounds more—but production stopped in 2015.

The Y-20 made its maiden flight in January 2013, and debuted at the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in November 2014.

The 47 m-long Y-20, which entered service with China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in July 2016. At least two aircraft stationed at Qionglai Air Base since July 2016. Commercial satellite imagery captured on 9 December 2017 suggests that at least three more Xian Aircraft Corporation Y-20 Kunpeng transport aircraft have entered service with PLAAF. In these images, there are a total of 5 Xi’an Y-20’s lined up at Qionglai Airbase near Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province.

Reports on the Chinese internet suggest that China is planning to convert some of these aircraft the aerial refuelling aircraft and the version of the Airborne early warning and control.

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