PLA Air Force General News Thread:

Heavy?

They look like Il-476 sized medium transports...

GarryB wrote:Heavy?

They look like Il-476 sized medium transports...

Il-76 is heavy, not medium.

An-124 is super heavy.

Anyway, the y20 is basically a chinese Chinese Antonov, also looks like one, and Antonov engineers contributed a lot to the design.

The Y-20 has weaker engines (the same d30 as the oeiginal il-76 but weaker and less efficient than the PS90 on the il-476) but a wider and higher cargo hold (around 4x4 metres vs 3,4 x 3,4m of the il-76). It is thus capable of carrying some loads that cannot fit on the il-76, even if, with the current engines has less max payload.

By the way, if I am not mistaken 4mx4m should be also the same cargo hold size of an70 and tu330.

The Chineses are working on a couple of better engines than the d30, the "modern" ws20 and anothrer emporary domestic solution, the stopgap ws18... but they are really far away from a modern engine. From what i understand they are not better than a PS90 and not even comparable with a PD14.

The PS-90 would be perfect for the Y-20, but i understand that the Chineses want a domestic solution.

The Soviet Il-76 along with the US equivalent C-141 are medium sized strategic transports... An-12/C-130 being light and An-124 and C-5 being heavy.

Super heavy strategic transport is the An-225.

Rodion_Romanovic wrote:

GarryB wrote:Heavy?

They look like Il-476 sized medium transports...

Il-76 is heavy, not medium.

An-124 is super heavy.

Anyway, the y20 is basically a chinese Chinese Antonov, also looks like one, and Antonov engineers contributed a lot to the design.

The Y-20 has weaker engines (the same d30 as the oeiginal il-76 but weaker and less efficient than the PS90 on the  il-476) but a wider and higher cargo hold (around 4x4 metres vs 3,4 x 3,4m of the il-76).  It is thus capable of carrying some loads that cannot fit on the il-76, even if, with the current engines has less max payload.

By the way, if I am not mistaken 4mx4m should be also the same cargo hold size of an70 and tu330.

The Chineses are working on a couple of better engines than the d30, the "modern" ws20 and anothrer emporary domestic solution, the stopgap ws18... but they are really far away from a  modern  engine. From what i understand they are not better than a PS90 and not even comparable with a PD14.

The PS-90 would be perfect for the Y-20, but i understand that the Chineses want a domestic solution.

According to sources on wiki the Y-20 will have a maximum payload of 66 tons with the new WS-20 engine, the Il-76MD-90A can carry about 60 tons.

Superheavy is extreme... only a few built for special purposes... like the An-225.

66 tons isn't a heavy payload... When it entered service the An-22 was considered heavy because it was the biggest, but it became a medium at 80 tons when the 120 ton capacity An-124 entered service and the upgraded An-124 with a payload of 150 tons made it the heavy.

Of course I suppose it is relative... here in New Zealand the C-130 is the heavy and we have nothing else...

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32200/chinas-y-20-airlifters-make-crisis-debut-bringing-medics-and-cargo-to-virus-plagued-wuhan

More pics:
http://russian.people.com.cn/n3/2020/0215/c31521-9657960.html

https://www.janes.com/article/94382/images-show-plaaf-j-16-armed-with-yj-83k-anti-ship-missile

https://www.google.com/maps/search/Nanchang-Xiangtan/@27.8680341,112.2985393,6z

This will help the NAF in the E/S China Seas that has shortage of deck fighters & pilots. Hostile navies will need to deal with the PLAAF as well.

Formation flying:

Some Chinese publications also argue that the H-20 will do double-duty as a networked reconnaissance and command & control platform.
Theoretically, an H-20 could rove ahead, spying the position of opposing sea-based assets using a low-probability-of-intercept AESA radar, and fuse that information to a firing platform hundreds or even thousands of miles away. The H-20 could also be used for electronic warfare or to deploy specialized directed energy.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/05/chinas-new-h-20-bomber-has-the-pentagon-worried/?mc_cid=a03eb1cbb6&mc_eid=5455568640

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/05/27/air-force-looking-to-up-gun-its-airlift-planes/

The PLAAF can do the same with its IL-76s & Y-20s.