Y-20 heavy transport aircraft News & Discussions

[Imran Khan]

View attachment 559041

13 of them ?

 

[Ali_Baba]

They are sure building them at some pace now !

 

[LKJ86]

 

[aziqbal]

Any new serials recently?

 

[LKJ86]

 

[Deino]

Y-20A at Kaifeng

 

[JSCh]

Two options for China to turn Y-20 strategic cargo plane into aerial tanker: magazine
By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2019/7/21 17:38:17

China's new-generation military transport aircraft, the Y-20, sits on the tarmac in preparation for the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition 2016 in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong Province. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Chinese military media have offered some suggestions on how to customize the homemade Y-20 cargo plane as the country needs its domestically developed large aerial tanker for a strategic air force.

Short- and long-term plans are possible for the Chinese Air Force, Ordnance Industry Science Technology, a Xi'an-based periodical on the national defense industry, said in an article published in its WeChat public account on Friday.

Since China is in urgent need of a large aerial tanker, it could go with the short-term plan first: installing refueling pods under its wings and by its rear, the article said.

This method, similar to the one used on the Russian Il-78 and European A400M tankers, would make little change to the aircraft's structure, the magazine said, noting that this method has relatively little technical difficulty and could be accomplished relatively faster and at a lower cost.

It also allows the Y-20 to retain its full transport capability, and the aircraft could still act as a cargo plane, the article said.

Eventually, a better option is to get rid of some of the transport capabilities like aerial delivery in favor of an integrated refueling platform within the fuselage similar to the Boeing KC-767. This would be much more complicated and could take longer, but will let the Y-20 carry even more fuel and become a more efficient tanker, the article said.

Developed by the Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Company Ltd under the state-owned Aviation Industry of China, the Y-20 has a takeoff weight of 200 tons.

Tang Changhong, chief designer of the Y-20, said in a March press conference that the aircraft "can serve as a general platform from which a variety of variants can be derived."

Multiple Chinese and foreign reports indicated the development of a tanker version is possibly already under way.

When repurposed for aerial refueling, the Y-20 could carry about 90 tons of fuel, the magazine article said, noting that China's current aerial tanker HU-6 can only carry less than 30 tons.

Having a tanker version of the Y-20 would allow China's fighter jets and bombers to fly much farther than before, making the Chinese Air Force turn into a strategic force from a regional one, an anonymous military expert told the Global Times.

China aims to build a strategic air force by 2020, which will become modern by 2035, and will be world-class by the mid-21st century, the Xinhua News Agency reported in November 2018.

 

[obj 705A]

why doesnt China make a civilian airliner version of the Y-20?
apparently the C919 uses alot of western technology including from the US, in that case once the C919 starts production Trump could just anounce a technology export ban on the C919 due to "national security" & thus the C919 would be dead on arrival, producing an airplane is a thousand times more complex than producing a smartphone thus after a US ban changing supply chains for the C919 would take a very long time & significantly delay the project.

 

[nang2]

why doesnt China make a civilian airliner version of the Y-20?
apparently the C919 uses alot of western technology including from the US, in that case once the C919 starts production Trump could just anounce a technology export ban on the C919 due to "national security" & thus the C919 would be dead on arrival, producing an airplane is a thousand times more complex than producing a smartphone thus after a US ban changing supply chains for the C919 would take a very long time & significantly delay the project.

Why doesn't US make a civilian airline version of C-17?

 

[obj 705A]

Why doesn't US make a civilian airline version of C-17?

because the production of already existing Boeing airliners won't be affected if China anounced a technology export ban on the US, obviously.
while the C919 in comparison would be killed or it's roll out would be delayed for a very long while if the US bans technology export to it.

 

[lcloo]

why doesnt China make a civilian airliner version of the Y-20?
apparently the C919 uses alot of western technology including from the US, in that case once the C919 starts production Trump could just anounce a technology export ban on the C919 due to "national security" & thus the C919 would be dead on arrival, producing an airplane is a thousand times more complex than producing a smartphone thus after a US ban changing supply chains for the C919 would take a very long time & significantly delay the project.

Y20 is a totally different aircraft from C919 in design and function. Converting Y20 into a passenger airliners is going to make the operator bankrupt in highly competitive airliners business, due to higher fuel cost per passenger mile.

As for C919, I am sure by now they would have a plan B for getting non-US suppliers. Also if US will to ban parts export for C919, China would respond with ban on Boeing jets. Without China market the negative effect on Boeing is far worst than 737-Max, likely will need US government to bail them out with tax payers' money.

Breaking news: Boeing lost 2.942 billion USD in their latest quarterly report due to 737-Max. Last year at the same period, they made a profit of 2.196 billion USD.

 

[vi-va]

Y20 is a totally different aircraft from C919 in design and function. Converting Y20 into a passenger airliners is going to make the operator bankrupt in highly competitive airliners business, due to higher fuel cost per passenger mile.

As for C919, I am sure by now they would have a plan B for getting non-US suppliers. Also if US will to ban parts export for C919, China would respond with ban on Boeing jets. Without China market the negative effect on Boeing is far worst than 737-Max, likely will need US government to bail them out with tax payers' money.

Breaking news: Boeing lost 2.942 billion USD in their latest quarterly report due to 737-Max. Last year at the same period, they made a profit of 2.196 billion USD.

It's confirmed from various sources that China has all home-made C919 version. That will be used for military purpose to replace Y-8&Y-9 I think.

Y-8&Y-9 technology is old, C919 will surely fight higher and further, better aircraft cabin environment as well. More importantly, all home-made C919 will ensure any foreign parts embargo will hurt foreign partner only.

All home-made C919 will share parts with C919, it will reduce cost a lot for mass production.

 

[kuge]

It's confirmed from various sources that China has all home-made C919 version. That will be used for military purpose to replace Y-8&Y-9 I think.

Y-8&Y-9 technology is old, C919 will surely fight higher and further, better aircraft cabin environment as well. More importantly, all home-made C919 will ensure any foreign parts embargo will hurt foreign partner only.

All home-made C919 will share parts with C919, it will reduce cost a lot for mass production.

how is the engine coming along?

 

[vi-va]

how is the engine coming along?

I don't have reliable info about the engine progress.

 

[LKJ86]